How Much Betting Is Really Going On?

[Dr. Jack]

Here are some facts that didn't make the show that I thought would be of interest:

# 7 of 10 U.S. adults placed some sort of wager in the last year.
# According to the NCAA, 35% of male college students bet on sports.
# $600 billion changed hands last year worldwide as a result of
# The online gambling industry generated $12 billion in revenue in 2005.
# Online sports betting is estimated to be 5 times bigger than Las Vegas sports betting.


Illegal sports betting (barroom bookies) is estimated to be 35 times bigger than Nevada.

# Over 20 gambling companies are listed on non-U.S. stock exchanges. The biggest poker company has a market value of almost $9 billion. The biggest sports betting company has a market value of almost $3 billion.

# The biggest sportsbooks employee over 2,000 people during football

# The MGM-Mirage has publicly lobbied to allow U.S. companies to take part in online gambling.

# Gambling is entering mainstream corporate America: Liberty Media (owner of the QVC and Encore TV networks) is finalizing the purchase of Fun Technologies, which owns a majority interest in the Don Best sports information company.

RJ Bell