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Sports betting revenue tops $11 billion

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Regan MacNeil, Feb 20, 2024.

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  1. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    There's too much money involved for this to be at all clean. So which sport will see the next huge betting/fixing scandal? Maybe good, old-fashioned college hoops point shaving?

    Sports betting hits record $11B in 2023 revenue
     
    Regan MacNeil, Feb 20, 2024
    #1
  2. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    Great question. I suspect we should follow the money -- or more precisely, where the money's not, in terms of salary. MLB and NBA salaries are exponentially higher than NFL...which is why I would think NFL players could be ripe for bribing.
     
    TigerVols, Feb 20, 2024
    #2
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    There was sports betting before the legalization push. So while it has grown with legalization, that huge jump year over year they reported is a jump in legalized betting. Keep in mind that the same organization was estimating that illegal sports betting was a $150 billion business already -- like if you look at the reports they were putting out in the 2010s. A chunk of that legalized betting $$ just moved over from the corner bookie, and while the overall numbers have certainly grown, it's not like it wasn't big money already and gambling suddenly came into sports.

    Point shaving may actually be less likely now, because with NILs and the salaries pro athletes earn, they conceivably have less reason to jeopardize their earnings if they get caught. Athletes used to throw games and shave points because they weren't paid like they are now.

    Even if the NCAA or the leagues find out that there was an incidence where a game (or games) wasn't clean. ... more than ever, I think they will find every way imagineable to keep the public from finding out. It used to be they thought they had to protect the integrity of their sports to keep fans interested. I think they know now that "integrity" isn't a word at the top of the American vocabulary. So they will take that risk gladly for the money they are making, and then deal with it (scramble to find a way to hide it or minimize it) if they have to.
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2024
    The Big Ragu, Feb 20, 2024
    #3
    exmediahack likes this.
  4. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    As always, the fix will be in on some obscure little corner of the world. An ATP match in Boca Raton on a random Tuesday. A lower-level soccer match. Some random small school baseball game.

    But at least with the technology the books now employ there's a greater chance of catching it.
     
    Inky_Wretch, Feb 20, 2024
    #4
    exmediahack and justgladtobehere like this.
  5. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    When I left the Herald, I tried writing a thriller about fixing the Super Bowl. I abandoned it for two what I feel are insuperable difficulties. One is that the amount needed to bribe a player even on a relatively low salary would require a very big bet indeed to turn a profit worth the risk, a bet it'd be hard to disguise without a lot of cutouts, meaning a lot of possible stool pigeons. The other is that while it would be easy for any player to blow one play to turn the game (49ers arguably lost due to a poorly kicked extra point and a blown blocking assignment), it's impossible to make sure the game would turn on such a play. You fix the kicker and the perfectly honest opposing quarterback throws four picks in a 20 point blowout. Inky is right, it's the obscure corners of the sports world that're ripe for fixes.
    PS: Very hard indeed to fiz daily fantasy and prop bets.
     
    Michael_ Gee, Feb 20, 2024
    #5
    Inky_Wretch likes this.
  6. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    Indeed; one might even call them insuperbowlable difficulties.
     
    TigerVols, Feb 20, 2024
    #6
    TowelWaver, bigpern23, Michael_ Gee and 1 other person like this.
  7. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    "Piece of cake."

    [/EarlMorrall]
     
    BTExpress, Feb 20, 2024
    #7
    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo likes this.
  8. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Last year was the Alabama baseball scandal, where a guy in Cincinnati was betting the game and setting off alarms. IIRC, the game hadn't had a single bet on it so it was an easy catch for regulators.
     
    playthrough, Feb 20, 2024
    #8
    Inky_Wretch likes this.
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Too bad your imagination didn't gravitate toward a Tim Donaghy character instead of a fictional player.
     
    The Big Ragu, Feb 20, 2024
    #9
    TowelWaver, BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo and sgreenwell like this.
  10. BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo

    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo Well-Known Member

    "Watch this shit."--Chris Webber
     
    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo, Feb 20, 2024
    #10
  11. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    Happy to report that not $1 of it was mine.
     
    micropolitan guy, Feb 20, 2024
    #11
    TowelWaver, 2muchcoffeeman and sgreenwell like this.
  12. BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo

    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo Well-Known Member

    I both agree & disagree with this. It doesn't matter how much guys are getting paid now...players will always want more of the pie and will always feel underpaid (often justly so) and there will always be a segment of the population looking to grab a bag of cash while putting the screws to the owners/governing bodies. But I do agree the leagues/governing bodies will go to great lengths to cover it up or try to convince people Tim Donaghy was the lone rogue ref (LOLLLLLLL). I'd think the NFL & NBA are best-equipped to slam something like that shut. The morons running MLB, NHL & the NCAA couldn't fucking make a parking ticket stick, so they'd be the most vulnerable to someone slipping thru.
     
    BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo, Feb 20, 2024
    #12
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