Will gambling ruin the NFL and sports in general?

[Augie]

2 hours ago, dorquemada said:

 

Assuming the books aren't already entirely cooked. As terrible as the officiating has been the last few seasons, they are absolutely opening themselves up to that idea.  League is fixed, winners are known -> NFL colludes with massive gambling interests

 

I don’t see it ever becoming a “league problem”, but I think they are susceptible to individuals like Tim Donaghy, the NBA ref who got caught. I don’t ever see the whole thing being rigged, but individuals are another story and much harder to control. Individuals, refs and players, are where they could be vulnerable.

 

Any scandal is going to lead to a lot of backlash the league wants no part of, but I don’t see how it’s totally avoidable. People are going to be people. 

 

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Edited 6 hours ago by Augie

[Billy Claude]

57 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

I don’t see it ever becoming a “league problem”, but I think they are susceptible to individuals like Tim Donaghy, the NBA ref who got caught. I don’t ever see the whole thing being rigged, but individuals are another story and much harder to control. Individuals, refs and players, are where they could be vulnerable.

 

Any scandal is going to lead to a lot of backlash the league wants no part of, but I don’t see how it’s totally avoidable. People are going to be people. 

 

.

 

 

The recent Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier scandals didn't have much effect on the NBA.

[Augie]

4 minutes ago, Billy Claude said:

 

 

The recent Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier scandals didn't have much effect on the NBA.

 

To your point, I’ve heard nothing about this. But it’s also true that if anyone starts talking NBA I change the channel. What happened? 

[Mr. WEO]

we've been hearing about CTE being the downfall of the NFL for ages.  We will be hearing that gambling will be it's downfall for ages still.

 

There is no compelling argument that this is true.  Gambling is turbocharging viewership, which is pushing broadcasting rights money almost exponentially, which pushes the cap further and further.  That is only good for the NFL.

13 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Americans have a really odd perspective on gambling (especially sports betting) to a Brit. And I think it is proof that criminalising something (or only legalising it in very select circumstances) as was the case in the US until more recent times increases the public perception of the danger associated with it. 

 

That isn't to say that there are not dangers associated with sports betting. There are. Gambling addiction is real and there are people who suffer from it and the corruption risk while small does exist.

 

But it has been legal in the UK for decades, certainly my entire life, and it hasn't led to a break down of society or some major undiluted corruption of our lives and our sports. Having a couple of quid on first goalscorer at the game you are going to on a Saturday or a fiver on an accumulator is much part of the ritual of being an English football fan as the half time pie and the post match pint. 

 

This.  Could have locked the thread after GunnerBill pressed "submit reply"

[Dukestreetking]

20 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

we've been hearing about CTE being the downfall of the NFL for ages.  We will be hearing that gambling will be it's downfall for ages still.

Good point WEO.

 

A good friend of mine, Peter Landesman (shameless name-dropping) wrote and directed the CTE-related movie, Concussion.

 

At the time, there was quite a bit of push back from The Shield, so I asked him if he thought his film would fundamentally change things.

 

His reply, paraphrasing, "not a fu*king chance".

[Billy Claude]

44 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

To your point, I’ve heard nothing about this. But it’s also true that if anyone starts talking NBA I change the channel. What happened? 

 

Johntay Porter was a bench player for the Toronto Raptors.  In the spring of 2024 he removed himself from two games claiming injury in which there was an unusual amount of money betted against him making his average points, rebounds and assists numbers.  This was flagged by one of the sports betting firms and he eventually pled guilty and was banned for life from the NBA.

 

Terry Rozier did something similar while he was on the Carolina Hornets in 2023.  He was their big free agent signing at the time so a much more well-known than Johntay Porter. The NBA investigated and cleared him at the time but now Rozier is under federal investigation.

 

Probably it didn't make as much news as it might because, first the NBA tried to keep it as quiet as possible, especially with respect to Rozier and second, both the Raptors and Hornets were very bad teams that had zero chance to make the playoffs.

 

[Augie]

5 minutes ago, Billy Claude said:

 

Johntay Porter was a bench player for the Toronto Raptors.  In the spring of 2024 he removed himself from two games claiming injury in which there was an unusual amount of money betted against him making his average points, rebounds and assists numbers.  This was flagged by one of the sports betting firms and he eventually pled guilty and was banned for life from the NBA.

 

Terry Rozier did something similar while he was on the Carolina Hornets in 2023.  He was their big free agent signing at the time so a much more well-known than Johntay Porter. The NBA investigated and cleared him at the time but now Rozier is under federal investigation.

 

Probably it didn't make as much news as it might because, first the NBA tried to keep it as quiet as possible, especially with respect to Rozier and second, both the Raptors and Hornets were very bad teams that had zero chance to make the playoffs.

 

 

OK, Porter sounds vaguely familiar, to give you a gauge of my awareness. But again, I ignore the NBA as much as possible. 

[That's No Moon]

56 minutes ago, Billy Claude said:

 

 

The recent Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier scandals didn't have much effect on the NBA.

Fair, but there is now another one in the NBA with Malik Beasley and the Feds are involved.  The issue is, and I have said several times, with prop betting.  It is MUCH easier for a player to influence the outcome of a prop bet than they are the outcome of the entire game. What's worse IMO is the prop betting erodes confidence in the product more than the outcome of the game. Did the player drop that pass intentionally or not when the O/U on their catches is at 5.5 and they are sitting on 5? Etc. There are tons of examples of head scratching moments that, without prevalent prop betting, you forget about and move on. However, when there is money on the line for just about every single thing happening in a game the strange things stick out more and make people ask more questions.

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

[Dablitzkrieg]

Not...one...bit...

[longtimebillsfan]

10 hours ago, appoo said:

We seem to be inclined towards addictive behavior as a nation. We have the highest rate of Drug disorder PER CAPITAL in the world and it's not really close. We are the largest illegal drug market on the planet. 

 

Gambling is a problem and it's going to get worse

Sad but true.