“Celebrity” endorsement of betting – is it as stupid as gambling itself?

I listen to SEN a bit, and man, do they pour on the betting ads and program content regards betting. (For the sake of this question, let’s ignore the hand-wringing about the saturation level of sports-betting advertising they also hypocritically indulge in.)

My question is – does it make people more likely to bet (with a particular agency) by having some z-grade celebrity giving the odds? Former players, former journalists (I thought nobody trusted us, anyway?), nuffy blondes nobody has ever heard of – does it make a difference?

And if so – why?

I’m genuinely interested. Some agencies clearly think it works, but I’m not sure it does.

(Leave comments below.)

I really like ESPN’s 30 for 30 series. Which is weird, because I just don’t like movies. You may say that these are sport movies, but mostly they’re not – they’re movies about people, with sport as the vehicle.

I just watched the Muhammad Ali/Larry Holmes one, and while it wasn’t all that good, there was one little bit that made it worth watching, a story told by legendary boxing writer Jerry Izenberg about the night Ali lost to Larry Holmes:

“Late in the evening – long after the fight – after Sinatra gave his fight eulogy (for Ali) in the grand showroom and all the people applauded, I walked into the men’s room – on the first floor of Caesars (Palace) and there was an old Afro-American gentleman tending the bathroom and I said to the guy, “Do you mind if I ask you a question? Did you bet on the fight tonight?”

He said, “Yes, I did.”

I asked, “Do you mind telling me who you bet on?”

And he looked at me and said, “I bet on Muhammad Ali.”

I asked, “Do you mind telling me why?”

He said, “Why? Because he gave me my dignity.”