Bockino, an associate professor of sport management, is the author of the forthcoming book, "Game On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, and Got Personal with Billions of Fans."
There’s much anticipation and speculation as North Carolina prepares to dive into the world of sports betting on March 11, when the practice becomes legal in the Old North State.
Many are wondering how the state’s residents will respond to the new offering, and what it could mean for the state and those businesses trying to tap into demand for wagering on athletics competitions.
David Bockino, associate professor of sport management, recently talked about the potential impacts with NBC affiliate WXII in Winston-Salem and CBS affiliate WFMY in Greensboro, drawing upon the analysis he laid out in the forthcoming book, “Game On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, and Got Personal with Billions of Fans.” The book, published by the University of Nebraska Press, will be released April 1.
Bockino shared with WXII reporter Kara Peters that the addition of sports betting is likely to have a substantial impact on the state’s coffers in the years to come. “”The estimated revenue that’s going to come in the next few years ranges from 65 million a year hoping to go up to 100 million a year. And that’s new tax revenue that’s going to benefit a lot of different places.” Bockino told Peters.
With betting, sports fans are able to take their fandom to another level, he said. “Gambling is really the next step in that where the sports fan has so many options that they can personalize the sports fan experience, to however they want it to be.” Bockino said.
Even those not interested in laying down a bet in favor of their favorite team are going to be immersed in the rollout of betting options, Bockino told reporter Hunter Funk with WFMY.
“You’re gonna be basically bombarded with more gambling ads than you’ve ever seen in your life,” said Bockino, who is the director of Elon’s Media Analytics program. “They want you to go on their site and they might give you really good odds or promotions in order to sign up because they want you to stick around. They want you to win that first couple of bets so that you can then translate those bets into eventual losses.”
Before entering academia, Bockino worked at ESPN for seven years in both the Research and Analytics and International Ad Sales departments, collaborating closely with ESPN offices in Mexico, South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Along with “Game On,” Bockino is the author of “The Guidebook Experiment” and the Kindle Single “Greetings from Myanmar.” He has published research in Newspaper Research Journal, Asian Journal of Communication, and Journalism & Mass Communication Educator and presented research papers at AEJMC, ICA and others. His teaching, writing and research interests include the media business, sports, history and travel.