Is Betting on Baseball in the US Still Popular?

The famous American sportscaster, lead broadcaster, and managing director of VSiN, Brent Musburger, revealed how popular is betting on baseball. Speaking with CNBC, he acknowledged that the most popular sport to bet on is American football, followed by basketball, and baseball.

Brent Musburger Reveals Which Are the Most Popular Sports to Bet On

The interest in sports betting in the United States has been unstoppable. Although the activity was limited to Nevada for 25 years, this changed in 2018. Back then, the US Supreme Court struck down PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act), which left the regulation and legalization of the activity in the hands of the legislature of each state. Since then, nearly two dozen US states have already legalized the activity, while many are still in the process.

On Thursday this week, in light of the opening day of Major League Baseball (MLB), the American sportscaster and lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN), Brent Musburger, spoke for CNBC’s “Power Lunch”. When asked by the host, how does MLB fits as a betting sport, Musburger said that this is a very interesting question.

He acknowledged that back in the 50s and 60s, “baseball was king”. Sports fans placed bets on baseball more than anything else back then, he added. However, according to Musburger, this changed with the coming of the “TV era“. Now, according to him, without a doubt, the most popular sport for betting is American football. Coming up second, Musburger positioned basketball. 

Betting on Basketball and Baseball Remains Popular

Focusing on basketball, we see a sport that has grown significantly in popularity in the last two decades. And Musburger confirmed this. He acknowledged that undoubtedly, March Madness is one of the most popular basketball events to bet on. Furthermore, Musburger stressed that operators in Las Vegas recorded millions of bets on the opening days of the event.

On the other hand, he positioned baseball as the third most popular sport to bet on at the moment. Musburger added that besides betting on who is going to win or not, there are possibilities for prop betting. However, he warned sports fans to be careful when placing such bets. The advice that Musburger gave sports fans is to refrain from betting, especially if the money spent on betting is usually used for rent or helping the family.