The Sport of Gambling

NBA teams, including the Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards, have already rolled out gambling-focused sports broadcasts that, along with game action, provide in-game betting opportunities. The announcers are the same, but the graphics package and viewing experience are very different. As more states legalize sports betting, the opportunities to gamble will likely increase.

Pro sports leagues are throwing their lobbying weight around in more and more states. On the surface, these initiatives oppose sports gambling legalization bills, citing concerns that the sport’s integrity could be tarnished. But in state after state, professional sports leagues like MLB and the NBA are also demonstrating a keenness to make money off the very same industry they ostensibly seek to prevent.

Pro teams are also seeking to harness the powers of legalized gambling to boost their fan base. Squads from the NBA and NHL are already developing in-stadium lounges, interactive television channels and apps designed to keep fans engaged by letting them place wagers during games. These betting platforms offer teams a fresh route to building a lasting — and more lucrative — connection with fans, who’d otherwise look to external sportsbooks instead.

As legalized sports betting continues to roll out across the U.S., betting technology is evolving too. The latest? Microbetting, in which users wager not just on game outcomes but also on small events within matches. Unfortunately, such wagers could be especially problematic for people with gambling addictions.

Some call it the Lucky Country, but Australia is not always so fortunate. According to one study, Australians, on average, lose $1,144 a year on gambling in various forms, including lotteries, bingo and sport betting. Another driving force behind Aussie gambling are the electronic gaming machines known as “pokies.”

Walk down many Japanese streets and, amid the rush of people and cars, you can usually hear the distinctive thump and clang of gaming. And more often than not, the patrons are playing pachinko — pulling tiny levers of what look like upside-down pinball machines spewing teensy silver pellets. The balls are exchanged for gifts that are swapped across the street for cash. The whole process seems rather addictive, and the nation’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has reported that 4.8% of Japan’s adult population suffers from pathological gambling.

The New York Times once labeled Jack Molinas as the “Mephistopheles of college sports.” The charismatic New Yorker not only became an NBA All-Star but also, with an alleged assist from the Mafia, spearheaded point-shaving schemes in dozens of collegiate basketball programs. Molinas’ actions led to his own imprisonment and the arrests of 37 players across almost two dozen college programs.

Once upon a time, the telegraph was the main information line for sports gamblers (and other gamblers too). In the late 19th century, the transmission of sports information was Western Union’s largest revenue generator. While it was illegal to use this information on bets made inside a pool hall or saloon, it wasn’t technically illegal to distribute such info for that purpose. In 1897, baseball’s National League agreed to grant exclusive telegraph rights to its games to Western Union in exchange for $300 of free telegrams for each club — a deal that is often considered the first sale of broadcast rights.

For hundreds of years, a “tontine” was a popular, albeit macabre, form of investment used to finance everything from personal retirement to a monarch’s wars. In its purest form, the tontine was sort of a cross between an annuity, the lottery and an Agatha Christie novel. By pooling your money in a tontine with fellow investors, you were placing a bet on your own life, wagering that you would outlive your co-investors, growing your share of the pie as each one bit the dust.

When most people think of gambling, chances are they see the considerable risk of losing big. But what if betting were actually a sound investment? Like their traditional financial counterparts, sports betting mutual funds deal with longer-term investors who are often looking for a newer, more diverse set of investment avenues for their cash — while peer-to-peer betting exchanges pit bettors against one another for an agreed upon price and line, just as they would in day trading.

Even though hundreds of thousands of kids pick up a stick every year, lacrosse has remained a niche spectator sport. But with fast action, high scoring and former players who often have considerable financial means, lacrosse is due for a surge of interest on the back of legalized betting. The high-scoring game is also a handicapper’s paradise, and given its under-the-radar status, bettors with in-depth knowledge of the sport could easily gain a solid edge.

Nonpublic information about injuries or other inside scoops can prove decisive to bettors, just as it can to stock pickers. That’s why state after state is introducing sports wagering legislation and regulations to either prohibit operators from allowing people with inside information to place bets or to punish bettors who use such information. While these moves might appear preemptive, experts say solid legislation is crucial to prevent big-money betting from marring sports.

What are your thoughts about the effects of legalized gambling on society as a whole?