Did Our Super Bowl Predictions Pan Out?

Did Our Super Bowl Predictions Pan Out?

February 15, 2022

February 15, 2022

The 2022 Super Bowl was the first big stress test for sports betting in the U.S. But here's an interesting thought experiment from before the Rams vs Bengals Super Bowl begins.

Streamer's Spotlight: Sports Betting Predictions --- How Many Did We Get Right?

By the time you've read this, the 2022 Super Bowl will have already happened. After a Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited online sports betting in 2018, states have been passing laws left and right that officially legalize legal sports betting. Going into Sunday's Super Bowl, just

. Still, that's the largest number of states in U.S. history as many states passed their sports betting laws in 2021 and after the previous

Super Bowl.

With that in mind, let's play a game. We're writing this before the Super Bowl occurs, so here are three predictions we have for how this will play out.

1. Search Volumes for Sports Betting Will Spike Over the Weekend (and Especially on Sunday)

Given sports betting is relatively new in many places and the Super Bowl is one of the biggest and most-watched sporting events all year, we'll hazard a guess (and a low-hanging fruit) that there will be a huge spike in sports betting going into Super Bowl Sunday.

In particular, we predict huge spikes in interest for DraftKings Sportsbook, including people searching for how to place bets through

and

, both of which are the only streaming services that have sports betting as of this time of writing.

2. Some Politician Somewhere Will Decry Sports betting

With all of the attention on sports betting going into this Super Bowl, it's only a matter of time before a politician on Capitol Hill makes a post decrying the practice. However, since the Supreme Court has already ruled that federal laws banning sports betting online are illegal, that's going to be more grandstanding than anything else.

Congress has a long history of trying to intervene or make laws or rules that specifically target U.S. sports. There's an interesting 2009 Slate article that also asks why Congress has a

.

3. Someone Is Going to Post Millions of Dollars in Gains from Super Bowl Betting

There are always high rollers with gambling. Going into the Super Bowl, the pool is going to be large, and some people with the means are going to roll the die (and win). Expect those winnings to quickly make it to social media.

This Week's Streaming Guide

1. ICYMI: 'Bel-Air' Revival Now Streaming

The 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' revival show, 'Bel-Air', hit Peacock on Sunday. Stream available episodes on Peacock now. -

  2. A Sardine Migration Can Be Interesting...Right? 

Watch the Nature special 'The Ocean's Greatest Feast' on PBS this Wednesday (Feb. 15) at 8 PM EST. -

  3. Steve Carell Is Back in Netflix 'Space Force' Season 2 

The hit series starring the well-regarded Steve Carell as a bumbling space program leader is back starting this Friday (Feb. 18). -

4. Hit Video Game 'Cuphead' Gets a TV Show

The unique and popular video game 'Cuphead' is getting a TV show on Netflix. Watch 'The Cuphead Show!' on Netflix starting this Friday (Feb. 18). -

News and Industry Developments

1. Sports Streaming Is Busted

The Super Bowl won't fix the problem. -

2. YouTube TV Plans Interface Change in 2022

At long last, as the service hasn't had a facelift in years. -

3. Comcast NBCUniversal Close to Shifting Content to Peacock from Hulu

That will, of course, cause more content siloing. -

4. Facing Competition, DirecTV Stream Now Has a 5-Day Trial

The service is competing in an increasingly tight market for price, features, and channel options. -

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