Young sports fans’ relationship with betting underscores unifying aspect, study suggests
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Sports gambling in the U.S. has ramped up since states began to implement their own laws and restrictions around the activity.
Most sports are able to place a bet on their phone or mobile device without ever having to step into a casino or talk to a bookie in a dark alley. The easy access has made it so those of a younger generation can wager on nearly every sporting event in the world.
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Those young fans’ betting trends have underscored the notion that sports is one of the great unifiers in the world.
A survey conducted by Bookies.com and shared with Fox News Digital showed that 80% of more than 270 respondents aged between 21 and 27 showed that they wagered with people of a different demographic. Additionally, 45% who wagered with friends who have a different ideology or presidential vote were three times more likely to listen to that person’s opposing viewpoint.
"Sports is the last and ultimate unifier, and the Super Bowl is the greatest and last unifying event. It is the only time all year when everyone is watching the same event at the same time on the same platform," Bookies.com senior betting analyst Bill Speros told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "So, that unification just sort of runs downhill from there.
"The interesting thing about the demographics that struck me was that when you pick a side on a bet, let’s say you’re in a chat group or in a Reddit page or something, and you pick a side, and you say, 'I like the under in the Super Bowl,' and everybody else who picks the under on the Super Bowl is going to agree with you.