You can't get through the day without being blasted in the face with gambling ads. The NFL has embraced this new world. In light of the alleged Stephen Ross bribe, the league better be careful.
for me, gambling was a terrible idea for the NFL to embrace. Above and beyond all the current allegations, now do you question a bad call by the officials wondering if they have money on the game or a player drops an easy reception, etc etc. You nailed it with the public trust mattering
The best way to avoid integrity issues is to not waste your hard-earned money betting on Sports. Just because the professional leagues promote it, in the end the house always wins. Bad stewardship for you, palatial gambling palaces for them.
You’re spot on with this Tyler. Seems like the integrity of the NFL continues to erode. It’s all about the money unfortunately. Thanks for writing about this.
Nothing good comes from an association between sports and the gambling industry. Well that's not quite true: it's a gold mine for the gambling industry. I hope the NFL and all the Drew Brees types taking the coin from these organizations think it's worth it. Personally, I can't wait until that "Caesar" character and all his honey-pot bling is no longer being blasted into my living room.
A few seasons back I dismissed what I thought at the time to be nonsensical. It came from a fellow Las Vegas resident who stated that his uncle had advised him to place a bet on a particular Bills game. He also claimed his uncle was an NFL ref who was going to be working that game. The whole time I was talking to this guy I pictured him wearing a tin foil hat. Upon further review…
The class action suit the League should be worried about is the class of gamblers who lost money on Dolphins games in the seasons in question. That could be a lot of money!
Outstanding Tyler, and appreciate you talking about this. Even most sports media seem to have bought into the gambling angle and present it as if there's no downside, but there most definitely is.
I wonder if the owners even care. Money always talks for them, and they have so much they think they're invincible. They've made move after move thinking that no matter what they do, it will come up roses. In their hubris they probably really do think they can gloss over it. Definitely don't think Goodell has the stones to do anything about it, he's been subservient as they come to the owners since he took over. The difference between a leader-Rozelle and even Tagliabue-and a puppet.
I couldn't agree more with the author. The Ross/Flores thing is just the tip of the iceberg. There will start to be questions over dropped passes, holding, pass interference etc. when they affect point spreads. It's not a question of "if", it's only a question of "when".
All of the things you mentioned for sure. Particularly the extremely questionable calls by refs and the occasional, and even more astonishing, non-reversal during replay. If you haven't read Tim Donaghy's book: Blowing the Whistle. The Culture of Fraud in the NBA, it's a great read. Does he have an axe to grind? Sure. But it's as clear today as it was during his time as an NBA ref, that rules are made on the fly. It's also clear the same is happening in the NFL. If the NFL thinks they can get away with this and are happy becoming the NBA, then good luck.
On the other hand I've begun to wonder if the owners realize the lawsuits involving physical trauma will only escalate; kids will continue to gravitate towards other sports; moms and dads will encourage them to do so, and the owners are squeezing this for all they can while it lasts, knowing it's going to implode. Don't many NFL owners also own soccer teams?
great topic and article.
for me, gambling was a terrible idea for the NFL to embrace. Above and beyond all the current allegations, now do you question a bad call by the officials wondering if they have money on the game or a player drops an easy reception, etc etc. You nailed it with the public trust mattering
The best way to avoid integrity issues is to not waste your hard-earned money betting on Sports. Just because the professional leagues promote it, in the end the house always wins. Bad stewardship for you, palatial gambling palaces for them.
You’re spot on with this Tyler. Seems like the integrity of the NFL continues to erode. It’s all about the money unfortunately. Thanks for writing about this.
Nothing good comes from an association between sports and the gambling industry. Well that's not quite true: it's a gold mine for the gambling industry. I hope the NFL and all the Drew Brees types taking the coin from these organizations think it's worth it. Personally, I can't wait until that "Caesar" character and all his honey-pot bling is no longer being blasted into my living room.
A few seasons back I dismissed what I thought at the time to be nonsensical. It came from a fellow Las Vegas resident who stated that his uncle had advised him to place a bet on a particular Bills game. He also claimed his uncle was an NFL ref who was going to be working that game. The whole time I was talking to this guy I pictured him wearing a tin foil hat. Upon further review…
The class action suit the League should be worried about is the class of gamblers who lost money on Dolphins games in the seasons in question. That could be a lot of money!
Outstanding Tyler, and appreciate you talking about this. Even most sports media seem to have bought into the gambling angle and present it as if there's no downside, but there most definitely is.
I wonder if the owners even care. Money always talks for them, and they have so much they think they're invincible. They've made move after move thinking that no matter what they do, it will come up roses. In their hubris they probably really do think they can gloss over it. Definitely don't think Goodell has the stones to do anything about it, he's been subservient as they come to the owners since he took over. The difference between a leader-Rozelle and even Tagliabue-and a puppet.
I couldn't agree more with the author. The Ross/Flores thing is just the tip of the iceberg. There will start to be questions over dropped passes, holding, pass interference etc. when they affect point spreads. It's not a question of "if", it's only a question of "when".
All of the things you mentioned for sure. Particularly the extremely questionable calls by refs and the occasional, and even more astonishing, non-reversal during replay. If you haven't read Tim Donaghy's book: Blowing the Whistle. The Culture of Fraud in the NBA, it's a great read. Does he have an axe to grind? Sure. But it's as clear today as it was during his time as an NBA ref, that rules are made on the fly. It's also clear the same is happening in the NFL. If the NFL thinks they can get away with this and are happy becoming the NBA, then good luck.
On the other hand I've begun to wonder if the owners realize the lawsuits involving physical trauma will only escalate; kids will continue to gravitate towards other sports; moms and dads will encourage them to do so, and the owners are squeezing this for all they can while it lasts, knowing it's going to implode. Don't many NFL owners also own soccer teams?