March 08, 2022
Sports gambling is and always has been a slippery slope — and something that has always made me a little uneasy.
Before you call me a buzzkill, or an alarmist, let me first say I love to gamble responsibly as much as anyone else. I literally partook in an in-person poker tournament less than a week ago. I am obsessed with fantasy football and will only really do it when it's for money. My favorite thing to accompany a round a golf is a nice Nassau, skins match or anything that puts some juice into the round.
Betting with friends, on the golf course or in a casino, however, is one thing. The immense influx of money from now legal sports books into every pro sporting league is another thing entirely. And it makes me really, really uncomfortable.
As my colleague Shamus Clancy pointed out to me Monday after news broke about Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley being suspended for a year (at least) because he placed around $1,500 in bets on parlays involving his own team, we are 103 years removed from the Chicago Blacksox scandal, and sometimes people have short memories.
Pro athletes are in the exact demographic outlets that FanDuel and Draft Kings covet the most — males in their 20s and 30s who have expendable income. You can place a bet on your phone in about 10 seconds. These guys are human; they're going to give into temptation and this is going to happen again and again.
Ridley can't possibly be the only current pro athlete who has placed sports bets. There is no chance. There's literally nothing to stop any athlete from giving his high school buddy some cash to place some legal bets for him — and later collecting his winnings.
The NFL and NHL moved teams to Las Vegas for god's sake. Those franchises will be drafting kids who will become of legal gambling age as they reside in Sin City, being paid millions of dollars. This is a problem that is only going to get worse.
And yes, I know, the top athletes in all four major sports — and even a league minimum earner — make a much much better living than any ballplayer on the White Sox in 1919. Why would they risk everything, when they make hundreds of times what a typical American family makes?
Well, we've seen big time athletes like Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson and others show a proclivity to seek action in a variety of areas other than basketball. The temptation is there. Human nature is undeniable, and someone will get into much deeper trouble than Ridley did.
The dye has been cast, and there really is no turning back after leagues across the spectrum of sports have accepted gambling money hand over fist. But a point-shaving scandal, a player trying to throw games or another scheme that interferes with competitive fairness seems inevitable. It's only a matter of when, not if, how earth-shattering it winds up being.
Back before the emergence of legal gambling in sports, leagues across the board prioritized the integrity of their games, banning players like Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose for life. But that has disintegrated as profits and greed have really become the only motivation for the owners of pro teams.
Be prepared for a bomb to drop. Ridley's suspension is likely just the tip of the iceberg.
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