Online Betting Companies Are Kicking Off a Super Bowl Ad Blitz

It's not just the office pool anymore. More than half of U.S. states now allow legalized sports betting, and in many cases it's as easy as opening an app on your smartphone and making a wager. From a report: A whopping 17.6 million people are expected to place a bet on Sunday's Super Bowl online or in person at a sportsbook, according to the American Gaming Association. It's not all profits for the operators, though. Sportsbooks are putting up their own money in the form of a massive advertising campaign targeting the millions of sports fans who will be glued to their TVs for the matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. 'TV sportsbook advertising has grown exponentially this year and in the last couple of years overall,' Adam Candee, managing editor of the trade publication Legal Sports Report, told NPR.

Candee said the sudden growth of legalized gambling in states across the country has sportsbook operators jockeying for a piece of the huge new customer base -- and the Super Bowl is their latest opportunity to sell themselves to potential bettors. 'It is happening in the here and now, moment to moment, as they compete for customers. That is because this is essentially a new industry that is rising up from the ground,' he said. Sports gambling could become a $37 billion industry by 2025, according to the investment management company ARK.

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