Big game, big bets, big money

The weeks preceding the Super Bowl are the biggest betting window of the year for U.S. fans who annually wager more than $80 billion on sports events. An estimated $170 million will be bet in Nevada alone on today’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks, and about $2.2 billion will change hands over the Internet, on riverboat casinos and at Native American casinos. With that kind of money, you could:

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--DAVE ZIRIN

1. Buy the National Football League’s two most valuable franchises -- the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins.

2. Buy the Detroit Lions and Tigers, with enough money left over to restore the $77 million in recent budget cuts in the city of Detroit, the site of Super Bowl XL.

3. Pay for 11 days of fighting in Iraq.

4. Make 10 sequels to “King Kong” (including publicity).

5. Pay 55,000 teachers (at $40,000 a year).

6. Pay for the baseball contract of New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez for 88 years.

7. Buy 17 National Hockey League franchises, with a little left over for your own rink.

8. Pay the annual salaries of the 50 highest-paid athletes in the world.

9. Pay the yearly salaries of all 26 NFL teams.

10. Buy 14 riverboat casinos ($160 million each) so you can gamble to your heart’s content.