Hello, I’m Chaz Marler from Pair of Dice Paradise, self-proclaimed online board game personality. I enjoy games in many shapes, sizes and genres. But, admittedly, there’s a whole area of gaming that I’ve never paid much attention to: organized sports. Why not? They’re games. But even so, I’ve never been much of a sports fan.

I still don’t understand exactly how basketball works.

I tried golfing once, and it degraded into just driving the little cart around for two hours.

I plan my trips to CostCo so they coincide with college town’s home football games, just so I can get a good parking space.

So, on the rare occasion when there’s a news story to report on in which the worlds of sports and board games collide, I’m in over my head. So it’s time to call in some backup. And that’s why I’m glad to be joined via internet today by Marty Connell, board gamer, sports enthusiast, and sixteen-eighths of eight thirty-seconds of the Rolling Dice & Taking Names podcast. Today, we’re going to discuss the clout professional sports may have on board games, and why it seems that sports-themed board games struggle in the marketplace.