Mainstream Sports Media and Gambling are Partners
(Artichoke I wrote for Rant Sports)
By Tony George
This article is not glorify me personally because I am a professional sports handicapper and have been for 23 years, but to glorify large mainstream sports outlets that are either online, or on National TV and National Radio. What I mean by glorify is the fact that outlets like ESPN, Fox Sports, Yahoo Sports Radio, Rant Sports and many other smaller networks now are featuring Las Vegas Line related material in their score feeds and graphics on TV, as well as radio shows dedicating national time slots to the art of sports handicapping and the Las Vegas Line discussion. I want to thank them for that exposure and the realization of what drives their networks and ratings as well as online traffic. I am part of this new realization with a 2 hour sports handicapping show, blended with mainstream sports talk on Yahoo Sports Radio, a national network, and have been for 2 years.
The Las Vegas lines in college football are displayed on ESPN’s wildly popular College Gameday telecast as they discuss each game. That was unheard of even 2 years ago. No longer is sports betting lurking in the shadows and hidden by dark headlines. In fact ESPN was talking two teams 6 point Teasers in Week 16 of the NFL football season with a character named “Cousin Sal” in a dedicated segment. Collin Cowherd’s Blazin 5 on the his Radio Show every Friday gets his highest rating of the week, not to mention he also has a NFL point spread show on Sunday mornings on ESPN 2. Also bear in mind while all this is occurring, the only state that allows sports betting is Nevada, but that is going to change in short order. Do you think ESPN is catering to an all Nevada audience?
I thought the timing was right for this article since the Super Bowl is upcoming and an estimated 10 Billion Dollars worldwide will be bet on this game, half of American adults will have some form of wager on this game, and yet in the borders of Nevada where betting legal, less than 1% of that amount will be wagered legally. Beno Cook, a longtime sports broadcaster who used to do my weekly radio show on a local ESPN affiliate in Lincoln, NE once told me, “For the most part, the only people who do not bet on a sporting event who are male, are in the cemetery”. The Super Bowl and the upcoming March Madness in college basketball are testaments to that statement by my old friend Beno.
Adam Silver, the new commissioner of the NBA has stated in press releases the fact he would back sports betting legislation for his sport, something unheard of from of David Stern in years past. Mr. Silver understands that when TNT NBA Basketball on Thursday Night has millions of viewers and Sacramento is playing Denver in the late game, that 80% of those viewers have action on the game, because other than local markets in Sacramento and Denver and a few die hard enthusiast’s, it is guys with betting action on the NBA that are driving those ratings. Kudos to Mr. Silver for clearly understanding what in fact will keep his sport viable.
The NFL has long been against gambling because of integrity issues, but the NFL has plenty of integrity issues already all on their own, far worse than guys gambling on the Super Bowl. Sports Gambling as I have stated in the past is the 8000 pound elephant invited to the annual NFL Christmas party every year, and when he arrives he is welcomed in, but no one buys him a drink. The NFL clearly understand that their Direct TV Packages at over $200 each is solely driven by sports gamblers, and sports bars who house gamblers to see all the games they have action on. College Sports ratings are driven by gamblers as well, although more of a percentage of mainstream sports fans do love college sports more than the NFL, ESPN showing lines clearly demonstrates they know their demographics well. When you pull down a 5 share on cable on a Thursday night when Utah State is playing Fresno St. at midnight EST and the spread is 19, it is because gamblers want to know if their wager covers the spread.
BUT WHAT ABOUT FANTASY SPORTS?
You know the legal difference between Fantasy Sports, which all major Pro Sports Brands endorse and participate in, versus sports gambling? The legal loophole stripped down for you, is that Fantasy Sports is a game of skill and sports gambling is a game of chance. Ironically the outcome of your result is still driven by the same thing, the players and the game itself. There is a fine line between skill and chance, and both aspects are wagering on an outcome in one sense or the other.
Fantasy Sports is a multi-billion dollar industry driven by Draft Kings and Fan Duel advertising everywhere that it is humanly possible that Joe Blow won $400,000 on 1 day fantasy sports websites. The ads are so juicy and enticing I want to play, and yet I know my chances of winning money are far greater wagering games, not betting on a players sole performance. Ironically if you bet $50 on the Jets on a Monday Night Football Game online with an informed opinion and a 50/50 chance of winning out of the gate, whether you know how to handicap or not, you are a law breaker. Conversely, if Geno Smith for the Jets has 12 fantasy points in that game you might win $500 and that is legal. How long do you think that is going to continue? With the NFL so vested in fantasy sports and the revenue it provides them and ratings, the NFL will fight any legislation put forth to stop it.
States like New Jersey and Indiana have legislation pending and many others will follow suit. Some states like Delaware allow parlay cards already and realize millions in tax revenues yearly. In my opinion in 5 years or less, gambling and sportsbooks will be in every casino in America and be legal. Once the major Pro Sports brands figure out how to get a cut, they will hurry legislation along. No one is pushing the limits of legality on fantasy sports because the NFL, NBA and MLB have partners with sites like Fan Duel and Draft Kings and the financial benefit is too hard to pass up. All Pro sports in America have 2 things in common, greed and more greed, which at days end will be the reason for legalized sports betting.
With the federal and State governments in need of more money and budget shortfalls, it is a matter of time before the taxation on sports gambling is also too hard to pass up. Same thing as getting over the hump with legalizing Pot, which was unheard 10 years ago, and now state by state it is slowly but surely becoming legal as the Feds realize they are never going to stop it's use, so they figured out a way to control, regulate and tax it. Sounds like a blueprint for sports gambling. Mega-Millions and Powerball are the biggest sucker bets on the planet with damn near zero chance of winning, and yet the Feds back that gambling venture because it provides them hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues yearly. Again, do you think Uncle Sam is going to ignore the potential for sports gambling forever, knowing it goes on every day and they cannot stop it?
The national media also will have a whole new set of shows (and advertiser income) to kill time with on these 24 hour sports networks with shows solely based on the Las Vegas Slant on upcoming sporting events. If you are watching closely all the major sports networks are moving closer to this now, and again, it is just a matter of time. Within an hour of the final AFC and NFC Championship results, ESPN was reporting the Las Vegas Odds on the game. An Army cannot stop an idea whose time has come.