Legalized sports wagering presents the greatest opportunity for the National Hockey League to grow its product since the expansion boom 25 years ago.
This might seem like hyperbole, given that more people likely wager on the coin toss at the Super Bowl than wager on professional hockey in a given season. "We're about one percent of the book. Our game doesn't lend itself to gambling in the same way that football and basketball do," said commissioner Gary Bettman in 2016.
This has been true for decades. Simply put, hockey doesn't traditionally have enough events to entice widespread interest from gamblers.