8 Sports betting boomed – Chiefs fans didn’t change their tune on Twitter

By Jian Zhong

Sports fans have always worn their hearts on their sleeves – and these days, they often wear them on Twitter. When the Kansas City Chiefs suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss in the 2018 AFC Championship, Twitter lit up with the agony and anger of fans. Four years later, after the Chiefs clinched a thrilling win in the 2022 AFC title game, social media again buzzed with joy and relief. In the interim, something big had changed off the field: sports gambling was legalized across much of the United States, putting real money on the line for many fans. That raises an intriguing question: Did this betting boom change how fans talk about their team online?

A tale of two championship games

To find out, we analyzed tweets from those two dramatic Chiefs games – one before
widespread sports betting and one after. We collected 50 public tweets in total, 25
from each game’s aftermath, and categorized each post’s sentiment toward the Chiefs
as positive, negative, or neutral. This simple content analysis was meant to capture the
general mood of the fan conversation. Were fans more likely to lash out in anger (or
gloat in victory) once gambling entered the picture?

Surprisingly, the tone of tweets looked almost the same in 2022 as it did in 2018. In
the 2018 loss, roughly 40% of sampled tweets were negative about the Chiefs, about
one quarter were positive, and the rest neutral – a mix of frustration, praise, and
matter-of-fact commentary. In 2022, after sports betting had spread, the breakdown
was virtually identical. We found no clear surge in negativity on social media after
legalization. In other words, having money at stake didn’t noticeably darken (or
brighten) the Twitter mood around the Chiefs. Fans were still jubilant in victory and
upset in defeat, much as they had been before legal betting. As one might say, the
more things changed, the more the tweets stayed the same.

It’s important to note that this was a small snapshot – just two games, one team, and
50 tweets – so any conclusions are tentative. Still, our results ran contrary to our
initial theory. We had wondered if legalized betting might fuel more negative
outbursts (imagine angry bettors venting about lost wagers) or even more positive
posts (happy fans celebrating winning bets). Instead, the overall balance of cheers and
jeers on Twitter remained steady. It seems the Chiefs Kingdom on social media was
no more or less emotional because of gambling; they were simply emotional about the
game period.

Betting, bias and fan emotions in the Twitter era

The few years between those games saw an explosion of sports gambling in America.
After a 2018 Supreme Court decision opened the door, over 30 states swiftly legalized
sports betting. By 2022, betting odds and sportsbook ads were woven into broadcasts
and apps, and many fans considered betting an integral part of sports culture. This
cultural shift led us to suspect that fan discourse might change. After all, when you’ve
got your hard-earned cash riding on a game, a bad play or bad referee call might sting
even worse – and Twitter is where people often unload those emotions.

So why didn’t we see a big change in the Twitter tone? One reason could be the
enduring negativity bias in how people share and engage on social media.
Psychologists use this term to describe our human tendency to focus on negative
experiences over positive ones. On platforms like Twitter, posts expressing anger or
disappointment often draw more attention and get shared more widely than glowing,
positive posts. That was true before legalized betting, and it remains true after – sports
fans have always been quick to vent after a tough loss or controversial play. In our
samples from both 2018 and 2022, negative comments slightly outnumbered positive
ones, reflecting that bias. Even in the Chiefs’ 2022 victory, plenty of tweets dwelled
on frustrations (missed opportunities, anxious moments in the game) rather than pure
celebration. Simply put, fans have never needed a betting slip to get riled up online.

Another factor is that social media has long provided a space for emotional reactions
in real time. Win or lose, fans flock to Twitter to share elation or commiseration. The
legalization of sports betting added a new layer to fandom – for some, a financial
stake – but it didn’t replace the fundamental passions of rooting for (or against) a
team. Chiefs supporters in 2018 were devastated because their Super Bowl hopes
were dashed; in 2022 they were ecstatic because their team prevailed. Those feelings
don’t necessarily intensify just because money is involved; a die-hard fan’s emotional
investment can be as strong as any monetary investment. It’s possible that for many
fans, the outcome of the game itself matters more to their mood than the outcome of a
wager.

That said, the rise of legal betting has undeniably changed the sports landscape in
other ways. The sheer volume of gambling advertising and online promotion has
normalized betting in everyday sports talk. On social media, you’ll now see tweets
from betting companies and commentators hyping odds and parlays, alongside the
usual fan banter. Many younger fans have grown up seeing betting as just another
facet of enjoying sports. This might eventually shift how fans express themselves –
perhaps we’ll see more tweets directly referencing point spreads or personal bets. In
our 2022 sample, however, most tweets still talked about the game itself rather than
gambling. The conversation was about players and plays, not payouts.

It’s also worth noting that not all impacts of gambling on fan behavior are benign.
While our study didn’t find a rise in general negativity, there have been concerning
reports of abuse directed at athletes from angry bettors. College and pro players alike
have reported a spike in harassing messages – including threats – from people who
lost bets. In other words, a small subset of fans have changed their tune in a troubling
way, blaming players for blowing their bets. This kind of extreme behavior wouldn’t
necessarily show up in our sample of general fan sentiment, but it’s a real issue that
leagues and social media platforms are starting to grapple with.

Conclusion

Our look at Chiefs fans’ Twitter chatter offers a cautiously optimistic takeaway: so far,
the legalization of sports betting hasn’t fundamentally warped how fans celebrate or
lament their team online. The emotional rollercoaster of sports fandom – the ecstatic
highs and heated lows – remains much the same as it ever was. For the average fan
tweeting about a big game, passion for the team outweighs concern over the point
spread.

However, this is just the beginning of understanding how the betting boom interacts
with fan culture. As sports gambling becomes even more entrenched and more fans
start to wager, the dynamics on social media could evolve. It’s possible that by, say,
2028 (a decade into widespread betting), we might observe shifts – maybe more open
talk about bets, or changes in tone as betting becomes fully “every day.” Future
research with larger sample sizes and across different teams and sports will be crucial
to see the bigger picture. It could also be enlightening to compare today’s social
media sports chatter to that of a decade ago (before the current online and betting era)
to understand how fan discourse has changed over time.

For now, though, one thing is clear: Chiefs fans remain as passionately vocal as ever,
win or lose. Legal betting may have added new ways to engage with the game, but it
hasn’t changed the core of what fans do on Twitter after a big game – cheer, complain,
and ride the emotional wave of sports. The best may be new, but the heart of fandom
endures.

The author thanks the student team involved in this group research.