Scotland’s three-way title race generates precious glimmer of interest in a moribund era

The Scottish title race is nearing the final furlong and Hearts are ahead of Celtic and Rangers before Sunday’s Old Firm derby. Illustration: Nathan Daniels

There’s a good advert right now on the rolling TV sports news channels. It starts with a rush of beeps and plinks and flashing symbols, generating instantly the flat, glazed, hungry quality of the online casino. A well-groomed middle-aged woman is shown sitting in an armchair in a suburban living room. It’s a jarring tonal shift, but we’re still in that same space, betting graphics dancing around her head.

The middle-aged woman turns to the camera and says: “The games are all different … It never gets boring,” eyes gleaming strangely, hands gripping the struts of her chair. Here is a person who is not just pleased, but uncontrollably energised by the prospect of WowBet.com’s 10bn mildly divergent AI-generated gambling patterns. At this point the words “Sandra Frottwangle, funeral director” appear on the screen.