OFF THE WALL
Tired of ads begging you to bet? You weren’t alone
Scuba divers or astronauts on the International Space Station may be the only humans who avoided a barrage of advertisements over the last two weeks enticing them to bet on the Super Bowl.
But the expensive, ubiquitous come-ons succeeded in driving new customers to many of the nation's largest sportsbooks, boding well for the fastgrowing legal sports betting industry in the U.S.
The gambling companies won't reveal exactly how many new customers they gained in the run-up to Sunday's Super Bowl, saying that is closely held proprietary information. But in general terms, they say the barrage of ads — many of which offered easy-to-win bets reserved for new players — succeeded in gaining them new customers they hope will continue to bet with them.
Larry Faller of Sterling Heights, Mich., was among those bombarded with Super Bowl betting ads. He chose BetRivers.com, operated by Rush Street Interactive, which offered an eventual $500 match on his first $100 deposit.
“It seemed like a nice offer, so I took it,” said Faller, a 67-year-old retired newspaper pressman.
Signing up four hours before kickoff of the NFL's title game, he used his money to place bets on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the Super Bowl outright and to beat a point spread. (Tampa Bay beat the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.)
Richard Schwartz, president of Rush Street Interactive, said customer acquisition costs in the sports betting industry are expensive and likely to become more so as the industry grows. He said the company has seen “strong returns” on such spending, including its pre-Super Bowl push.
The ads blanketed the airwaves on TV and radio and proliferated online, in print and on billboards, to the point where it was hard to avoid seeing multiple entreaties to be.
“It was the most irritating thing,” said Eddie Trunk, a New Jersey radio personality with shows involving classic rock and heavy metal. “I have a large Twitter presence, and in my feed, every third or fourth tweet was an ad trying to get me to bet on the Super Bowl instead of being a message from someone I actually follow.”
Trivia question
How many Super Bowls have been won by teams what were in the NFL before the merger vs. Super Bowls won by AFL teams from before the merger?
He said it
Tweet from comedian Brad Dickson :“A couple Big Ten referees volunteered to work the Kitten Bowl but were told they weren't qualified.”
Trivia answer
Original NFL teams have won 33 Super Bowls, compared with 17 for AFL teams. The Steelers (six SB victories) and Colts (two) were original NFL teams that moved to the AFC after the merger. The Ravens (2), Bucs (2) and Seahawks, teams that weren't around at the merger, account for the other five. NFC teams now lead 28-27.
Sean McNeil scored a career-high 26 points and No. 14 West Virginia finished a regular-season sweep of seventh-ranked Texas Tech with an 82-71 victory over the Red Raiders on Tuesday night.
W. Virginia 82 ,No.7 Texas Tech 71
The Mountaineers (14-5, 7-3 Big 12) won their third consecutive game and ended a four-game skid in Lubbock 15 days after a thrilling 88-87 win at home when Miles McBride hit the go-ahead jumper in the final seconds.
McNeil was 5 of 7 from 3-point range, including one with the shot clock about to expire late in the second half.
McBride scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half coming off a career-best 31 points in a win over Kansas.
Mac McClung scored 17 points before fouling out for the Red Raiders (14-6, 6-5), who saw a three-game winning streak end a day after reaching their highest ranking of the season.
No. 11 Alabama 81, South Carolina 78: John Petty Jr. scored 20 points and Alabama held off host South Carolina to bounce back from its first Southeastern Conference loss of the season. The Crimson Tide (16-5, 11-1) were off to their best league start in 65 years before falling to 10th-ranked Missouri this past Saturday. Justin Minaya cut South Carolina's deficit to 79-78 with 2 seconds left, but James Rojas was quickly fouled and made both free throws to seal the victory. AJ Lawson led the Gamecocks (5-8, 3-6) with 21 points, making five 3-pointers.
No. 13 Texas 80, Kansas State 77: Andrew Jones scored 24 points and visiting Texas held off Kansas State. Greg Brown added 17 points and Courtney Ramey had 14 for the Longhorns (12-5, 6-4 Big 12), who snapped a three-game skid. Mike McGuirl missed a 3-point attempt from half court in the waning seconds for the Wildcats (5-16, 1-11), who have lost 11 straight.
No. 19 Creighton 63, Georgetown 48:
Christian Bishop scored 17 points and host Creighton capitalized on Georgetown's worst shooting performance in a decade. Creighton (15-5, 11-4 Big East) avenged an 86-79 home loss to the Hoyas last Wednesday and won for the fifth time in six games. Jamorko Pickett led the Hoyas (5-10, 3-7) with 16 points and 12 rebounds.