Betting lines and college football television ratings

•We examine the relationship between betting lines and television viewership in college football.•We separate interest in outcome uncertainty from interest in the betting market.•Generalized linear modeling is used to estimate the relationship.•Ratings are higher when the scoring margin moves closer to the point spread.•There is strong evidence suggesting viewership is sensitive to both the sides and totals markets.

Speculation has long proposed that interest in live sports programming has been fueled by the gambling market. We separate interest in outcome uncertainty from interest in the betting market and uncover that consumers are sensitive to contest outcomes relative to both the sides and totals markets.