Punting on the Super Bowl beats betting on soccer

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a drop-kick through the goalposts of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here. The Super Bowl offers a su [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a drop-kick through the goalposts of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - The Super Bowl offers [a superior gambling experience]( to the World Cup. - Not so Yeezy come, [Yeezy go](. - [Safe as houses?]( A Sporting Chance In the 2022 soccer World Cup, 64 games resulted in only 15 different final scores, with 70% of the matches producing some combination of zero, one and two goals. In the 2022 National Football League season of what we Brits call American football, 272 games produced 181 different outcomes — and a much wider variety of scores. Football is “[the favorite spectator and betting sport in the US by far,](” Richard Dewey and Aaron Brown point out. “The myriad scoring outcomes go a long way in explaining why.” In football, as in soccer, a single event can have material impact on the outcome. But unlike in what the rest of the world regards as the beautiful game, such events occur multiple times during an average US football game. “These things make for spectator excitement and lots of good gambling opportunities,” according to Dewey and Brown. While soccer is a footrace, with teams only able move from behind to ahead in small increments, a football score can change by leaps and bounds. “Teams play radically differently depending on the score — passing versus running; field goals and punts versus fourth-down attempts; one-point conversions versus two-point ones,” Dewey and Brown argue. “Moreover, there are many in-game situations — possession, yard line, down, distance — affected by every play; most of the other sports mostly have possession, which has only two values and changes constantly.” Bonus Sunday Super Bowl Reading: The NFL’s advertising ‘clean zone’ [violates free speech](. — Stephen L. Carter Bonfire of the Vanities Five years ago, Burberry Group Plc was roundly condemned for setting fire to almost £30 million ($36 million) of unsold clothes, accessories and perfume to prevent the stockpile from being stolen or sold on the cheap. In 2021, Tapestry Inc.’s Coach apologized after a report on social-media platform TikTok circulated about the US label slashing and dumping handbags. Sneakerheads, however, will be hoping to find the dumpster where Adidas AG flings $1.3 billion of unwanted Yeezy-branded gear. Adidas Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Gulden said late Thursday that the company’s operating loss this year may reach as much as €700 million ($750 million) if it has to write off all of its Yeezy inventory, after it ended its lucrative decade-long partnership with Kanye West in October following anti-Semitic comments by the rapper now known as Ye. “[Even without the Yeezy debacle](, Adidas has been losing ground to Nike Inc.,” argues Andrea Felsted. Adidas’s share price had surged more than 70% from its November lows, but on Friday, it slumped by the most in two years. “It not only needs to make up for the Yeezy shortfall, but it requires a broader style revamp too,” Andrea writes. “It has fallen behind on fashion-focused lines, and [Gulden needs to breathe new life]( into its offerings off the football field and running track.” Telltale Charts As mortgage rates dropped in recent years, US home prices soared. But the value of single-family housing has slipped by about 20% from its June 2022 record, marking a slump that has stretched for five consecutive months. “The main question remains: [Has the sector bottomed?](” asks John Authers. “And if not, how much damage could falling prices do?” The world’s major oil companies have [changed how they allocate their revenue](. “Prior to the pandemic, cash went first to the business, second to the shareholders, and the balance sheet usually took some of the strain,” argues Liam Denning. “Now, dividends and buybacks enjoy at least equal footing with capital expenditure, and there’s still a lot left over.” Further Reading Time is running out for [the World Bank to become the leader on climate change](. — Michael R. Bloomberg Two male private equity heads [aren’t better than one woman](. — Lionel Laurent [Bestway tastes the difference]( with its stake in supermarket Sainsbury. — Andrea Felsted Kazuo Ueda is [the first surprise](of Japan’s post-Kuroda era. — Gearoid Reidy and Daniel Moss Even if Nigeria’s democracy comes through its election with flying colors, [much sterner tests lie ahead](. — Bobby Ghosh Rishi Sunak is heading toward [yet another Brexit cliff edge](. — Therese Raphael ICYMI Discontent about [the lengthening road to retirement]( is rippling across the globe. [Turkish anger turns on Recep Tayyip Erdogan]( over quake rescue delays and weak building standards. A Polish prince bets his family’s money on [a nightmare real-estate deal](. Hong Kong makes first CBD arrest after [ranking the cannabis-based drug with heroin](. A waitlist of 60,000: Why [women are flocking]( to this members-only club. Kickers [The moon smells like gunpowder](. San Diego Zoo’s “Sir Patrick Stewart” has been named [the longest-living mouse in human care](. Sir Patrick Stewart                       Sir Patrick Stewart Got a rubbish ex? [Name a garbage truck after them]( for Valentine’s Day. (h/t Andrea Felsted) [The seat you want to be in]( if your airplane dives into a death spiral. Notes:  Please send moon dust and complaints to Mark Gilbert at magilbert@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022