I think most comments and articles lightly touch on or completely miss the most likely outcome of legalized sports gambling...sports are popular in large part because the score, and even individual plays, are the result of honest competition...this makes the sport exciting because of its unpredictability...as sports betting grows the outcome becomes less about the result of competition and more about the betting line...therefore, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat is no longer trustworthy...I know sports are a business and business is about money...but...the competition to this point was believable...now...not so much...g.
It's not gambling ruining sports, it's greed pure and simple. College football is in shambles thanks to greed. Soon there will only be the SEC all the old rivalries are disappearing.
Agreed. I think college football may be over. Once we crossed the amateur/professional Rubicon all decision will be financially driven. I favor a NFL with promotion and relegation like most professional soccer leagues. This will take a while but it may be inevitable.
I don't care for sports at all. But I must confess, I will start watching when the "Running Man" soon becomes reality and televised sports are macabre spectacles where contestants must survive for a limit period of time in places like San Francisco, Baltimore or Portland...
Yes, gambling has had a pernicious effect on sports, but nowhere near that of Leftism. From the national anthem "controversies" to player support during games of Marxist-based causes such as Black Lives Matter to subordination of female athletes' rights to those of transexuals, the Left, like everything else it touches, has damaged, if not destroyed, sports.
I thank the Lord that I’ve never got into gambling. The state I live in, NC, has just allowed sports betting online. I’m not interested in that. My money is hard enough to come by just to piss it away. Had a friend tell me about gambling, “If I was the only s.o.b in there, I’d still lose”.
Full credit for owning up to "being a prude," Joe. I might agree that gambling is bad and having less of it is good, but for me that is not justification for making it illegal. For that, someone's rights have to be trampled on.
If you want to reduce gambling, the place to start is with the various state lotteries. Government should be helping people with gambling problems, not profiting from them.
The problem isn't with gambling itself but the Leagues' close relationship with the industry. This leads every disgruntled fan to argue "fix!!!" every time a play or game they had bet on doesn't go their way. Every fan whose team loses a championship game complains of the league's complicity in a fix. It used to be "bias" and now "everyone is on the take!" (except when my team wins, then it's merit).
I see both sides of the argument as far as gambling/drugs/alcohol can affect someone’s life and are these things better legal or illegal.
Being selfish for a moment (I think I’m generally not a selfish person 😀) if someone does these things it generally affects them. If it becomes an addiction they face the consequences personally. But when someone who is PLAYING a sport gambles on it and they affect the outcome of the game they are PLAYING in - that affects me. I’d rather save my money not going to a fixed game. And I’d rather not watch it on tv if I know it’s fixed. It takes all my enjoyment out of sports - one of the things I enjoy in life!
Same argument for drugs and alcohol - go ahead, be free to do what you want to yourself. But when you cross a line and your actions affect me, my friends etc…… that’s not acceptable.
There's a headline for you. No substance behind it. Am I on ESPN all of a sudden?
The kids have their smart phones out 24/7 and they need to be engaged with something. Professional players are paid enough that the mob types don't have an in, but the prop bets offer some opportunity there.
And then you have college sports and too many ways to pay the athletes without any kind of regulation.
So this is a story, undoubtedly. But far more complex than a click-bait headline and a get-off-my-lawn argument.
Pro leagues, universities and even the books themselves subscribe to services that try and detect gambling patterns that indicate potential corruption. This is an important check on the system. You can't just pay a player and rake in millions.
As for Tyrese Haliburton's whine - the man's about to start on a $204 million contract extension. I don't begrudge him the money, but I simply can't feel sympathy if it upsets him how the revenue is generated to pay him.
Ohtani just signed a guaranteed $700 million deal. Do you really want to argue that he's fixing games? You hedged that, but it's still the introduction to that paragraph.
This is entertainment in the '20s. It's evolving. Remember that bookies - professional or illegal - make money when they can keep betting balanced enough so that their take comes almost entirely from the juice.
Haven’t learned that prohibition doesn’t work yet huh? Alcohol also ruins lives and banning it didn’t work. Now I don’t think we should have legal Heroin since the chance of responsible use is about zero. But plenty of people can gamble responsibly. Also Better to owe money to a casino then a guy named Vinnie whose going to break your legs. The people who will get in over their head gambling legally are the exact same people that would go looking for a bookie. The prohibition argument here falls flat.
But overall the anti-gambling perspective isn’t irrational. I just don’t think its thought through very well.
Remember Kids! Vegas wasn't built on winners.
I think most comments and articles lightly touch on or completely miss the most likely outcome of legalized sports gambling...sports are popular in large part because the score, and even individual plays, are the result of honest competition...this makes the sport exciting because of its unpredictability...as sports betting grows the outcome becomes less about the result of competition and more about the betting line...therefore, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat is no longer trustworthy...I know sports are a business and business is about money...but...the competition to this point was believable...now...not so much...g.
It's not gambling ruining sports, it's greed pure and simple. College football is in shambles thanks to greed. Soon there will only be the SEC all the old rivalries are disappearing.
Agreed. I think college football may be over. Once we crossed the amateur/professional Rubicon all decision will be financially driven. I favor a NFL with promotion and relegation like most professional soccer leagues. This will take a while but it may be inevitable.
You're not wrong, as the fan of an ACC school. The only question is where to start? Who was Patient Zero?
I don't care for sports at all. But I must confess, I will start watching when the "Running Man" soon becomes reality and televised sports are macabre spectacles where contestants must survive for a limit period of time in places like San Francisco, Baltimore or Portland...
Yes, gambling has had a pernicious effect on sports, but nowhere near that of Leftism. From the national anthem "controversies" to player support during games of Marxist-based causes such as Black Lives Matter to subordination of female athletes' rights to those of transexuals, the Left, like everything else it touches, has damaged, if not destroyed, sports.
I thank the Lord that I’ve never got into gambling. The state I live in, NC, has just allowed sports betting online. I’m not interested in that. My money is hard enough to come by just to piss it away. Had a friend tell me about gambling, “If I was the only s.o.b in there, I’d still lose”.
Full credit for owning up to "being a prude," Joe. I might agree that gambling is bad and having less of it is good, but for me that is not justification for making it illegal. For that, someone's rights have to be trampled on.
If you want to reduce gambling, the place to start is with the various state lotteries. Government should be helping people with gambling problems, not profiting from them.
The problem isn't with gambling itself but the Leagues' close relationship with the industry. This leads every disgruntled fan to argue "fix!!!" every time a play or game they had bet on doesn't go their way. Every fan whose team loses a championship game complains of the league's complicity in a fix. It used to be "bias" and now "everyone is on the take!" (except when my team wins, then it's merit).
I see both sides of the argument as far as gambling/drugs/alcohol can affect someone’s life and are these things better legal or illegal.
Being selfish for a moment (I think I’m generally not a selfish person 😀) if someone does these things it generally affects them. If it becomes an addiction they face the consequences personally. But when someone who is PLAYING a sport gambles on it and they affect the outcome of the game they are PLAYING in - that affects me. I’d rather save my money not going to a fixed game. And I’d rather not watch it on tv if I know it’s fixed. It takes all my enjoyment out of sports - one of the things I enjoy in life!
Same argument for drugs and alcohol - go ahead, be free to do what you want to yourself. But when you cross a line and your actions affect me, my friends etc…… that’s not acceptable.
There's a headline for you. No substance behind it. Am I on ESPN all of a sudden?
The kids have their smart phones out 24/7 and they need to be engaged with something. Professional players are paid enough that the mob types don't have an in, but the prop bets offer some opportunity there.
And then you have college sports and too many ways to pay the athletes without any kind of regulation.
So this is a story, undoubtedly. But far more complex than a click-bait headline and a get-off-my-lawn argument.
Pro leagues, universities and even the books themselves subscribe to services that try and detect gambling patterns that indicate potential corruption. This is an important check on the system. You can't just pay a player and rake in millions.
As for Tyrese Haliburton's whine - the man's about to start on a $204 million contract extension. I don't begrudge him the money, but I simply can't feel sympathy if it upsets him how the revenue is generated to pay him.
Ohtani just signed a guaranteed $700 million deal. Do you really want to argue that he's fixing games? You hedged that, but it's still the introduction to that paragraph.
This is entertainment in the '20s. It's evolving. Remember that bookies - professional or illegal - make money when they can keep betting balanced enough so that their take comes almost entirely from the juice.
Haven’t learned that prohibition doesn’t work yet huh? Alcohol also ruins lives and banning it didn’t work. Now I don’t think we should have legal Heroin since the chance of responsible use is about zero. But plenty of people can gamble responsibly. Also Better to owe money to a casino then a guy named Vinnie whose going to break your legs. The people who will get in over their head gambling legally are the exact same people that would go looking for a bookie. The prohibition argument here falls flat.
But overall the anti-gambling perspective isn’t irrational. I just don’t think its thought through very well.