I will bet that you don’t
know what I am going to talk about in today’s Rant.
That is a true play on words, because I am going to talk about sports betting, which has been around for eons, both legal and illegal betting.
But more to the point, I am going to talk about online sports betting, which has also been around for a while in many places, but has recently become legal in New York, with a couple of entities given permission to open up shop in the state.
This has been a touchy subject in the state for quite a few years, because New York State didn’t offer this online exercise to its citizens, but New Jersey and other surrounding states did, and our legislators—so keen on pointing out “the science” in everything—decided that we were missing out on a cut of the lucrative money pie, and implemented online sports betting beginning in January of this year.
And the results are in!
New York State generated more than $2 billion in sports betting in just one month, which puts in the state’s coffers millions of dollars in revenue.
And what is even better is that February, even though it is a short month, will probably surpass that amount, because of the Super Bowl,, and all of the betting revolving around that big game.
And then you have March, with college basketball’s March Madness, and you can bet that at least through March and into early April, each month will surpass the previous one for sports betting.
That is all fine and good, but as a real, true sports fan, I simply hate the betting aspect of all of this, because let’s face it: betting on sports has nothing at all to do with sports, does it?
When you are able to bet, during the Super Bowl, who is the first receiving team, who will score the first touchdown, and what color the Gatorade will be that will be dumped on the winning coach, you know that this has nothing to do with sports at all.
The companies that have been permitted to do their thing in New York have flooded the airwaves with commercial after commercial touting their sports betting site, to the point that these ads, at times, are about two out of every three ads that we see when we are watching our favorite programs.
And the availability only feeds the gambling addiction that some people have, even though there are the obvious disclaimers on these ads, just like in the alcoholic beverage commercials, about seeking help if you need it.
But let’s get back to the sporting aspect of all of this … there is none.
It has nothing to do with who wins or loses, who does well in the games, or who doesn’t do well in their pursuit of athleticism that us mere mortals can only marvel at ... and to root for our favorite team to stand out from the rest.
It has to do with pure greed, bringing the football “rooting” mentality to all sports.
Football has been labeled our country’s most popular sport, but any true sports fan knows that the only reason that football has reached this level of the conversation is that when you add the betting aspect into it, you have people watching the games who have no concern about the outcome, do not even understand the games, and only care about whether they are making money off of them.
Baseball remains our true national pastime, because you generally have people watching it who are not betting on things like who will get the first hit in the game or who will hit the first home run of the contest.
You have people watching the game who really care about the game and its outcome, unlike football, where the outcome is truly secondary to the money to be made on the game.
And now, with sports betting legal in New York, I see that the teams themselves are promoting this new legal “shine” to their games pretty aggressively.
For instance, on the Knicks' court at Madison Square Garden, you have the graphics for one of the betting companies right on the hardwood floor, and what’s worse, you have a segment of the pre-game show entirely devoted to the betting aspect of the game—and it is always hosted by young, attractive people to get younger viewers interested, and ultimately hooked on this.
That is a true play on words, because I am going to talk about sports betting, which has been around for eons, both legal and illegal betting.
But more to the point, I am going to talk about online sports betting, which has also been around for a while in many places, but has recently become legal in New York, with a couple of entities given permission to open up shop in the state.
This has been a touchy subject in the state for quite a few years, because New York State didn’t offer this online exercise to its citizens, but New Jersey and other surrounding states did, and our legislators—so keen on pointing out “the science” in everything—decided that we were missing out on a cut of the lucrative money pie, and implemented online sports betting beginning in January of this year.
And the results are in!
New York State generated more than $2 billion in sports betting in just one month, which puts in the state’s coffers millions of dollars in revenue.
And what is even better is that February, even though it is a short month, will probably surpass that amount, because of the Super Bowl,, and all of the betting revolving around that big game.
And then you have March, with college basketball’s March Madness, and you can bet that at least through March and into early April, each month will surpass the previous one for sports betting.
That is all fine and good, but as a real, true sports fan, I simply hate the betting aspect of all of this, because let’s face it: betting on sports has nothing at all to do with sports, does it?
When you are able to bet, during the Super Bowl, who is the first receiving team, who will score the first touchdown, and what color the Gatorade will be that will be dumped on the winning coach, you know that this has nothing to do with sports at all.
The companies that have been permitted to do their thing in New York have flooded the airwaves with commercial after commercial touting their sports betting site, to the point that these ads, at times, are about two out of every three ads that we see when we are watching our favorite programs.
And the availability only feeds the gambling addiction that some people have, even though there are the obvious disclaimers on these ads, just like in the alcoholic beverage commercials, about seeking help if you need it.
But let’s get back to the sporting aspect of all of this … there is none.
It has nothing to do with who wins or loses, who does well in the games, or who doesn’t do well in their pursuit of athleticism that us mere mortals can only marvel at ... and to root for our favorite team to stand out from the rest.
It has to do with pure greed, bringing the football “rooting” mentality to all sports.
Football has been labeled our country’s most popular sport, but any true sports fan knows that the only reason that football has reached this level of the conversation is that when you add the betting aspect into it, you have people watching the games who have no concern about the outcome, do not even understand the games, and only care about whether they are making money off of them.
Baseball remains our true national pastime, because you generally have people watching it who are not betting on things like who will get the first hit in the game or who will hit the first home run of the contest.
You have people watching the game who really care about the game and its outcome, unlike football, where the outcome is truly secondary to the money to be made on the game.
And now, with sports betting legal in New York, I see that the teams themselves are promoting this new legal “shine” to their games pretty aggressively.
For instance, on the Knicks' court at Madison Square Garden, you have the graphics for one of the betting companies right on the hardwood floor, and what’s worse, you have a segment of the pre-game show entirely devoted to the betting aspect of the game—and it is always hosted by young, attractive people to get younger viewers interested, and ultimately hooked on this.
(Sounds what they used to do in cigarette advertising, doesn't it?)
This is just so wrong … it is funny that the leagues themselves have forgotten all the betting scandals that have rocked their respective sports in the past, like the NYU college basketball scandal of the 1950s, the numerous betting scandals which have shaken both Major League Baseball and the National Football League—the “Black Sox” scandal, Paul Hornung—and of course, Pete Rose and his penchant for betting on his own team while managing that very team.
None of this means anything anymore, it is ancient history, and let’s all bet our money on the big game!
It is just so wrong, has nothing at all to do with athletics, and really, it stains college and professional sports even more than they are stained to begin with these days.
Yes, I know, sports betting under the table has been around forever.
Heck, our local newspapers have been running odds on the games since they probably began publishing.
This is just so wrong … it is funny that the leagues themselves have forgotten all the betting scandals that have rocked their respective sports in the past, like the NYU college basketball scandal of the 1950s, the numerous betting scandals which have shaken both Major League Baseball and the National Football League—the “Black Sox” scandal, Paul Hornung—and of course, Pete Rose and his penchant for betting on his own team while managing that very team.
None of this means anything anymore, it is ancient history, and let’s all bet our money on the big game!
It is just so wrong, has nothing at all to do with athletics, and really, it stains college and professional sports even more than they are stained to begin with these days.
Yes, I know, sports betting under the table has been around forever.
Heck, our local newspapers have been running odds on the games since they probably began publishing.
And yes, I know about the lottery, Off-Track Betting, and all the other legal gambling exercises that have been in place for generations.
But to bring it all out in the open, and by doing so, pretty much making betting an acknowledged part of sports when it really isn't, it all rubs me the wrong way.
I certainly won’t participate, as I am more in tune with the athleticism of the athletes, and if my team won or lost, than seeing how much money I can make on betting whether a manager will be thrown out of a game, how many slam dunks will be made during the game, and how many home runs are hit during the game.
Sports betting has nothing to do with the real game, no matter what anyone says or the betting companies would like to have us believe.
It changes the way you watch a game, because when you bet on a game, you morph from a sportsman to a gambler, and that is not the way to watch sports.
And who is to say that the very athletes we root for won’t wind up entangled in some type of mess related to betting that will rival, and surpass, what Pete Rose was involved with?
Nope, no sports betting for me, because it destroys the very sports we are wagering on.
And you can bet on that.
But to bring it all out in the open, and by doing so, pretty much making betting an acknowledged part of sports when it really isn't, it all rubs me the wrong way.
I certainly won’t participate, as I am more in tune with the athleticism of the athletes, and if my team won or lost, than seeing how much money I can make on betting whether a manager will be thrown out of a game, how many slam dunks will be made during the game, and how many home runs are hit during the game.
Sports betting has nothing to do with the real game, no matter what anyone says or the betting companies would like to have us believe.
It changes the way you watch a game, because when you bet on a game, you morph from a sportsman to a gambler, and that is not the way to watch sports.
And who is to say that the very athletes we root for won’t wind up entangled in some type of mess related to betting that will rival, and surpass, what Pete Rose was involved with?
Nope, no sports betting for me, because it destroys the very sports we are wagering on.
And you can bet on that.
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