Why Study Sport?

                                                   Sports Wagering Exposed

                                                              By: R.J Swartz

   In late January when classes began for the semester on the the 23rd we talked about what sport is and why we should study it. This article goes in depth a little farther on a fact we discussed and i found to be very interesting. Sports wagering or gambling is and industry that thrives both legally and illegally.  The numbers presented by Dr. Higgs in class demonstrated that the sports industry in the 4th largest industry in our country, that is by no means hard to believe when we look at how much gambling on sport alone brings in $2.4 billion per year legally and an estimated $380 billion wagered illegally in the country annually. According to this NBC news aritcle the Nevada Gaming Commission reported that $3.2 billion was wagered last year.

   Further connecting the article and the notes we have covered in class 41% of all wagers placed was on the sport of football. This relates how we as Amricans have grown and extreme interest in the game of football as well as trying to make a few bucks on the side. We discussed how we as Americans love sports that a fast,violent, and physical. This coorelates to why we love to gamble, especially on our countries favorite sport. Gambling is a high risk high reward hobby that usually gives us odds that do not favor us to win. After your bet is placed you could either win or lose alot of money very quickly. In Coakley's text in chapter 1 on page 21 where the section on sports and the economy begins, the sections continues on to page 24. Coakley talks about how sport is directly affected by the economy and how well we are doing as an economy. this ties into the wagering scene because when we have more money to spend we are willing to invest more into the things we are passionate about. Lets face it who wouldn't want to try and make a few bucks while rooting for our favorite sports teams.