Sports Betting, Will The Billions Of Dollars Corrupt The Games?

October 3, 2022,

Whenever there is big money to made, new companies spring up across the landscape to take advantage of the situation.

Remember when the government first became involved in providing rebates to homeowners for placing solar panels on their roofs and insulating their homes with two pane windows?

Fly by night companies came out of the woodwork. Many legitimate. Some, not so scrupulous.

Breaking news.

There is a new industry that is booming. Worldwide.

What kind of companies are springing up to take advantage of the situation?

Welcome to the world of Sports Betting.

Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome.

The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track cycling, auto racing, mixed martial arts, and boxing at both the amateur and professional levels.

Sports betting can also extend to non-athletic events, such as reality show contests and political elections, and non-human contests such as horse racing, greyhound racing, and cockfighting.

Get this, it is not uncommon for sports betting websites to offer wagers for entertainment events such as the Grammy Awards, the Oscars, and the Emmy Awards.

Okay, there is betting from sea to shining sea. Across the world.

Is that a good thing? Isn’t gambling supposed to be bad for you?

It depends upon who you ask.

Recently we watched an NFL game where the super star quarterback threw an errant pass at the end of the game, near the goal line, that lost the game. He then knelt to the ground in a demonstrative display of deep anguish. From our view?

It seemed a little staged.

Was he really that upset? How many close games has he lost over the years and why was this one so different?

It made us wonder, how close are we coming to players throwing games because of the impact of sports betting?

Here was the NFL’s position.

The National Football League (NFL) remains the only sports league to maintain public opposition to sports betting, however critics have noted that with the move of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas in 2019, the NFL has positioned itself for legalization, while simultaneously contradicting its long-held position that sports betting in NFL markets would lead to potential match-fixing.

Everyone has a right to change their minds. True? Especially when there are billions of dollars at stake.

Commissioner Roger Goodell agreed in a July 2017 seminar that betting on in-game events, as opposed to the outcome of games, was a more palatable form of sports betting.

Okay, if you say so.

Like the NBA and MLB, the NFL issued a statement on May 14, 2018.

It emphasized the league's commitment to protecting the integrity of the game: "The NFL's long-standing and unwavering commitment to protecting the integrity of our game remains absolute."

Hopefully so.

According to the team at grid.news, “Forty-seven million Americans will place at least one bet on the NFL this season, which kicks off Thursday night. Last year, the industry generated $4.29 billion in revenue on $57.22 billion wagered.”

Very expansive.

The informative source insidersport.com adds, “The league’s partnerships secured during the 102nd season with prominent American gaming firms DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars Entertainment contributed combined sponsorship revenue of $1 billion, whilst additional deals with BetMGM, FoxBet WynnBET and PointsBet also yielded success.

No wonder the Denver Broncos can pay Russell Wilson $245 million over 5 years.

The Dallas Cowboys agreed to pay Dak Prescott $160 million over 4 years.

The Kansas City Chiefs signed mega star Patrick Mahomes to 10 years at $450,000 million dollars.

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray inked a deal reportedly worth $230.5 million that includes $160 million guaranteed, at about $46.1 million per year.

Sports Betting has a lot to do with the NFL having those reserves.

Who are the major players contributing to this new financial windfall?

FanDuel Group is an American gambling company that offers sportsbook, daily fantasy sports, horse racing, and online casino. The company operates sportsbooks in a number of states including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Virginia, as well as an online horse race betting platform, and a daily fantasy sports service.

The company was originally founded as a daily fantasy sports provider, and principally competed with DraftKings.

DraftKings is an American daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting company.

The company allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports–related contests and win money based on individual player performances in five major American sports (MLB, the NHL, the NFL, the NBA and the PGA), Premier League and UEFA Champions League football, NASCAR auto racing, Canadian Football League, the XFL, mixed martial arts (MMA), Tennis and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

Big time wrestling? We thought all of their matches were scripted anyway. Intriguing.

As of April 2016, the majority of U.S. states consider fantasy sports, including daily fantasy sports, a game of skill rather than gambling.

fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetitor.com, fcielitecompetitor.com fciwomenswrestling2.com grapplingstars.com -pixabay.com-photo

Talk about a euphemism.

In November of 2016, FanDuel and DraftKings, the two largest companies in the daily fantasy sports industry, reached an agreement to merge. However, the merger was terminated in July 2017, blocked by the Federal Trade Commission to prevent a potential monopoly, as the combined company would have controlled 90 percent of the market for daily fantasy sports.

Investopedia summarizes, “Most fantasy sports are considered games of skill, while Internet casino games are deemed games of chance. While the latter is illegal in most states under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, fantasy sports are exempt.”

Welcome to the brave new world.

Part of our concern with the new proliferation of sports betting is the lure to teenagers.

Habits are very hard to break and once a teenager gets involved in a vice, the habit could last a lifetime.

The other major concern is the effect that betting will have on the integrity of the game.

With all of these billions of dollars at stake and growing, can the NFL prevent itself from being corrupted, poisoned and influenced by people who have too much financial power over them?

They say no. Us?