All Is Not Lost
There's lots of goodness between Super Bowl and March Madness
The GenXers and Boomers among us will recall a time when TV would literally run out of #content late at night.
Those test pattern bars of color and despair would jolt upon the screen and the National Anthem would presage hours of nothingness.
It feels similar now as we sit, a bit of nacho drool on lip, Super Bowl, done, 49ers firing coordinators, the draft at least 600 days away.
We love the NFL.
How will we survive?
We will survive as we did in 1986. We will move on. We will find other joys. And, thankfully, we don’t have to actually get out of the chair to turn off the television now.
Buck up. March Madness is coming. That’s just 32 days away. But in this
world in which we live, that can seem like eons.
Gaming Today presents 10 things to sate your viewing and betting cravings until the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Feb. 17: NBA All-Star Game - Take the over.
Feb. 18: NHL Stadium Series, Rangers vs. Islanders at MetLife Stadium - The foils of a storied old rivalry skate into a venue where the Jets and Giants are always on thin ice.
Surely, some tout out there will sell you intel on which team benefits from playing outdoors in New Jersey.
Feb. 18: Daytona 500 - NASCAR has struggled to lure in bettors despite dogged efforts. Maybe it’s because one blown tire can undo a bet in seconds. Maybe the demographics don’t match up.
But for the tri-oval curious, Sunday is a chance to see if stock cars are a taste.
Feb. 22: MLB Spring Training Games Begin - Take me out to the beautiful ballgame.
March 19, Dunedin, Fla. Orioles-Jays, Section 103, Row 1, Seat 5. Come say ‘yo’.
I’ll buy 7venth Sun after. Swear.
March 2: Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix - Formula 1 was a huge betting success in Las Vegas, where fans/spectators/curious wandered The Strip in varying states of consciousness and wagered this race into historic status. Will there be a residual effect?
March 2: Fountain of Youth Stakes - The Kentucky Derby coming up on the rail. Although just one winner of this Grade II event has sprung from Gulfstream Park to win the Run for the Roses in the last 25 years, quality colts will abound for your trifecta, exacta, wheel, and various other nonsense bets on the first Saturday in May.
March 7: Arnold Palmer Invitational - There’s a condensed, more talent-rich field of golfers chasing more prize money.
March 9: Tampa Bay Derby - Tampa Bay Downs’ Grade III spectacular is a must-watch for horseplayers filling in exotic wagers in May. Some of America's best trainers and colts swing through a track known for its amenable climate, racing surface, and off-the-radar locale to condition for bigger things. Street Sense. Super Saver. TDB alums will probably factor in your Kentucky Derby exotic wagers.
March 12: Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament - The best men’s basketball conference in the land boasts six top-25 teams in the Associated Press poll. It also has unsuccessful teams - like West Virginia - with wins over highly ranked teams like Kansas. Don’t assume this will be a case of (Rock) chalk (Jayhawk).
March 14: The Players Championship - The field this Florida event attracts and the winners it has produced befits a major.
Super Bowl Recap
Here’s our full recap for Super Bowl 58 betting.
It’s More Fun Than A Savings Bond, Right?
And look at those Caesars interest rates. NFL futures for your consideration.
Let Logos Lead You
I’m straight up taking credit for pegging this several weeks ago. Yes, we were poking fun at a Super Bowl logo controversy, but it was noted in this digital space that the New Orleans 2025 version would probably be Mardi Gras colors: purple, green and gold.
And there it is … with the red unexpected edition, meaning the Chiefs will defend their title.
Is the NFL having fun with this now?
Oh, and congratulations, Packers, on representing the NFC.
History Lessons
Logging our Super Bowl/sports betting history after 57:
2023: Arizona hosted the first Super Bowl in a state with legal sports betting live.
2023: It was also the first time a Super Bowl game was played at a stadium with a retail sportsbook on the property: BetMGM.
2024: The Super Bowl is played in Las Vegas, the ancestral home of gambling in the United States.
2025: Super Bowl 59 will be played in a building with a sportsbook as a naming sponsor: Caesars Superdome.
ESPN BET + NY
PENN Entertainment bought New York market access for its ESPN BET brand this week. The World Wide Wagerer has leveraged its notoriety into a steam-rolling first few months after replacing Barstool Sportsbook as PENN’s pet media project.
And if they can make it in New York, they can make it … you know.
Goodwill Hunting?
Literal minutes after its non-compete with PENN expired, Barstool Sports announced a marketing deal to promote DraftKings odds exclusively. Barstool head Dave Portnoy, after buying his company back from PENN for $1 in August, had reportedly agreed to remain out of the sports betting industry until after the NFL season ended.
The last bit of tear-soaked confetti had barely been pulled off a 49er cheek when Portnoy began trumpeting the deal with his Boston brethren.
Barstool moved the needle negligibly as a sportsbook. Now its band of merry rapscallions is free to perpetrate its mayhem without all those sticky regulations. Maybe all the Stoolies who bet with the Barstool app will flock to DraftKings, if they’re not already there.
Here’s hoping that in the finest Boston tradition, their over-serious recreational softball teams still find a way to get in a brawl.
From the vault: Sizing up the sportsbook Battle of Boston.
Odds …
Oscars odds for those in Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, and Kansas
… and ends
Betr and WynnBET are shipping out of Boston
NASCAR fans might like this retrospective of the 2004 Daytona 500 from friend of The Playbook (and me) Nate Ryan of NBC Sports. Yes, I’m in it, but hopefully I didn’t ruin it.
Call 1-800-GAMBLER if you have a gambling problem. 21+: All content herein is intended for audiences 21+.
By Brant James, Gaming Today Senior Writer
