Wagering on sports events have always been a popular aspect of enjoying sports. They allow people to express support to their favorite teams in other ways than just shouting in the stadiums. Also, with the rarity and increasing cost of tickets to sports events, shouting has mostly been directed to the TV. Actually, betting on sports can actually stimulate games watching, whether in the stadiums or on TV. Stadium watching increases ticket sales and the teams playing get financial income from that. TV watching promotes the increase ratings of the station or channel which raises the cost of advertising. The teams playing on TV also get a cut in that. Thus, betting on sports events, whether it be Baseball Betting, Basketball Betting, Football Betting or Hockey Betting, indirectly supports your favorite team.
Some people, however, abuse sports betting and turns it into gambling. This is not the fault of the betting system but rather the fault of the gambler and should not taken against the system.