2026.07.29
How much Americans wagered on sports betting in 2025 and how it's more than they spent on movies, art, museums and music combined.So, I'm not sure if I think of gambling as absolutely daft because A. the church I grew up in was against it, B. my mom telling me that you're either losing or if you're winning it's based on the suffering of others, C. being wired to not feel the thrill of a win as much as other folks seem to, so the cold calculus of "the house always wins" is that much more obvious.
Like with sports betting, I just don't get. I already know its stupid how much emotional energy I put into some Boston teams, but at least there's a connection... getting all riled up on teams you don't really care about, or because you assume you're smarter than everyone else?
Of course it's "only" $166 billion. Compared to numbers I hear tossed around in national budget discussions, it's almost weird how small that is.
And also, it's interesting that the movie industry punches above its weight culture wise relative to the money involved. Like I remember a weird factoid where the video game industry makes a lot more than the movie industry - in fact was doing so in the old arcade days, a quarter at a time...
That's the problem with time, it just keeps going... even if you don't.