Gambling is wrong, unless you’re in Las Vegas. If you really feel good about a certain team in the NFL winning a game and it’s Sunday and you happen to live in Delaware, go ahead and bet on your prediction. Make some money off of it, but only the NFL though. And if you live anywhere else in America, gambling is wrong. Oh, if you live in Montana and Oregon, gambling isn’t wrong for you guys either, even though you guys don’t really gamble so much. But all you other people in the other states, GAMBLING IS WRONG! …….You know what? You all could bet on horse racing, but that’s it. They’re not people, so I guess that’s OK.
Gambling is as American as being a gun owner. Yet, this is the message that the government sends to the people of America. It’s part of the fabric of America. In the video above, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that it might be a $400 billion underground business. Yet, gambling is still basically not allowed in most states. I am not saying that everything that is fundamentally American is right. There are things that America is known for globally that even we would consider morally wrong. There are things that America is known for globally that is considered morally right, as well. However, what I am saying is that the lottery is legal. You pay money, pick some random numbers, and then hope that those numbers are picked in a drawing so that you can win more money than what you paid to enter the drawing. This is a game of complete chance, not mention that you could be playing against an amount of people ranging from a few thousand to over a billion people. This is the definition of gambling. Yet, that gambling is OK and gambling on sports isn’t. One difference between the lottery and gambling in sports is that money generated from lottery tickets goes to the government. It could go to the state government or the federal government depending on the type of lottery. However, there are other important differences.
Whether you only watch the NBA, the NCAA, go to summer Pro-Am games, or play the game all the time, every basketball fan should know about the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal. Players were betting on their own games, but they wouldn’t necessarily try to lose the game. They would mostly try to win, but only within a certain point range because betting in basketball is done on a point spread. Understand something though, college basketball was bigger than NBA basketball in the 50’s. More people were excited about CCNY that the Knicks, so this was a huge deal, especially considering the fact that the crowd was betting on the games, as well. Imagine being a player on a basketball team and scoring a basket that puts your team up 10 and the crowd bet on an 8 point game so they boo you. You just cemented a win for your (and their) team, but they boo you. Through my study of sports in America in college, I learned that this is the type of stuff that used to happen back in the day. So, you have the players betting one way, and they are the ones playing so they control the game, and you may have fans voting another way and they can’t control the game, so when the fans found out what was going on, you could imagine how upset they were. The biggest problem was the integrity of the game. When you betting is tangibly affecting the outcomes of games, you know something is wrong.
Every sports fan should know about the 1919 Black Sox Scandal or at least should have heard the name “Black Sox” before. But if you, don’t…
This was almost 100 years ago, but betting is not the kind of ancient issue that people today claim that it is. I remember when this became a national story around 10 years ago…
And, am I the only one that’s seeing less and less FanDuel and Draft Kings commercials? I live in New York and I remember when I used to see Knicks post-game segments sponsored by Draft Kings and now the city is actively trying to prevent them from operating New York. We have gone from worrying about games being thrown by players to worrying about insider information being traded about somewhat virtual, imaginary (fantasy) sports. These are the reasons why betting is still an issue in America.
Enter Adam Silver, a leader in professional sports in America. He is a very well-liked and innovative commissioner. So innovative that he is supportive of Draft Kings and FanDuel and supports gambling on sports in the United States. Take into account that his predecessor David Stern stood in agreement with the Senate Judiciary Commitee in 1991 when Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) was being passed. This is the act that prohibited people, unless you live in Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and Nevada which were grandfathered from it. It states that it is, “…unlawful for (1) a government entity [187] to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license, or authorize by law or compact, or (2) a person to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, pursuant to the law or compact of a government entity, a lottery, sweepstakes, or other betting, gambling, or wagering scheme based, directly or indirectly (through the use of geographical references or otherwise), on one or more competitive games in which amateur or professional athletes participate, or are intended to participate, or on one or more performances of such athletes in such games. [188].” This is the reason that horse racing isn’t illegal. Horses aren’t people. This is the reason, at least this is what city officials in New York would point to, that there is a strong push against FanDuel and Draft Kings although they claim that it isn’t really gambling because there is not enough chance involved because you have to know sports to play well. However, Adam Silver doesn’t care. He sees money, he sees everybody doing it, so he wants in. He doesn’t see it as wrong like a lot of Americans do.
Why is tobacco legal in America? Why is alcohol legal in America for those over the age of 21? It is because of money. These substances became popular in America that banning them would mean a loss of a lot of money. They became big business. Do these things harm you? Yes. Are they wrong? Most people would say yes with tobacco, but no with alcohol because if drunk in moderation, it might not have a strong negative effect on you. I understand that gambling is different because it is not a substance. However, referee Tim Donaghy risked his career and lost it due to his addiction of it. Pete Rose is making money off of the fact that he is shunned (not just banned in my opinion because there’s a possibility he won’t make the Hall of Fame despite being one of the best players of all time) from baseball due to his gambling addiction through his playing and coaching career.
Gambling addiction is real. The risk of games being fixed is real, just like how alcohol and tobacco addition is real. So, you might as well legalize sports gambling and bring more awareness to gambling addiction at the same time like we do with tobacco. $400 billion is not a small amount of money. That can help the economy greatly if this money wasn’t underground. Adam Silver is right. Tax it. Hypocrisy is something that not just countries, but individuals should always aim to avoid and honestly, this ban on sports betting isn’t only hypocritical, it’s stupid. Again, $400 billion. Not million. Billion.
The Soapbox 