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Good Thursday Morning. It’s Election Week, so bringing you an abbreviated, “snack size” version of SBP.

Five Interesting, Funny, and Touching Things that Happened in Sports This Week

#1: Super Bowl ads continue to sell like hot cakes

#2: Nike quickly jumping on Saquon Barkley’s backwards hurdle. I still cannot believe that play was real

Original play if you didn’t see it

#3: Odds markets turn their attention to sports after the presidential election

🗯️ My thought bubble: Polymarket became a major focus during the U.S. election, with $2.8 billion wagered on the two candidates (note that a portion of it may have been due to “wash trading,” but a significant number nonetheless). Post-election, it’s unsurprising that it is now turning its attention to sports given the frequency of events and high level of interest.

These marketplaces operate differently than traditional sports books, which rely upon a “house” that sets the odds and then moves them as money comes in on either side to reduce exposure (risk) on either outcome.

In the marketplace model, the platform sells an “event based contract” where there is a group that says yes to an event occurring and a group on the other side that says no. Based upon the amount of money that is flowing into either outcome drives up or lowers the price. The expectation is that the free market will always return to a semblance of equilibrium because there is someone willing to take the other side.

With this in mind, the name of the game here is liquidity in the market, meaning enough money floating around so that there is that “someone” on the other side. If not, people lose interest and the market collapses on itself.

The concept sounds neat, but several groups have tried this before and failed due to this liquidity issue. Polymarket’s “bet” is that its name recognition from the election will allow it to have staying power. We shall see.

#4 Watching the transition at Hotspur Stadium from NFL field to Premier League pitch is incredibly satisfying to watch

#5: An interesting perspective on team ownership: tax benefits via depreciation

Until next time, sports fans!

-Alex