I wonder what Pete Rose will think of this. ESPN, the U.S. cable giant, has confirmed it will be putting a new "stat" on its scoring bug that appears on its screen during every baseball game. It's a "win probability" indicator and posts whether the odds are in a certain team's favour of winning.

It will stay up for the full broadcast and is designed to appeal to an increasingly popular sports betting crowd, among others. 

Even ESPN execs who've decided to go with this aren't sure how it will be received, but they're determined to stick with it. 

“I think it just speaks to the way people think about sports right now, the consciousness of it, it’s on every website,” [the network's Phil Orlins] said. “People who obviously have a wager on the game have maybe a little  more thought about it as well. After a lot of debate, we want to embrace the differentiation there.”

With sports betting now an established thing in Canada, how long before this "new" stat infiltrates coverage here on Sportsnet or other services? Will it also spread to other sports, like hockey, basketball or football? I'm not sure but if it does, all bets are on. 

You can get a look at what the logo looks like here.