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NFL Tries To Keep A Lid On Legal Sports Betting
from the -250-to-succeed dept
Moves are afoot in Delaware to open legal sports books there, after the state's Supreme Court ruled that certain types of bets are constitutional. The state, like many others, sees taxes on gambling as a potential financial savior, but the NFL doesn't care. The league is threatening to file suit to try and stop the legalization of sports betting in Delaware, part of its long-running efforts to wipe out betting on its games. The league says that legalized gambling "will inevitably lead those gambling fans to question whether an erroneous officiating call or a dropped pass late in the game resulted from an honest mistake or an intentional act by a corrupt player or referee" -- but to suggest that such speculation won't exist otherwise is erroneous. It's really hard to see why the NFL (like other American sports leagues) thinks that keeping most betting (which is going to carry on anyway, regardless of its feelings on the matter) underground will prevent corruption, or even its mere appearance. It's a similar argument as that surrounding other forms of gambling, like internet poker: bringing the activities into a legal, regulated and monitored environment offers greater protection and far more benefits than keeping it in an unregulated, underground black market where anything goes. To this point, legal bookies can play a significant role in rooting out corrupt behavior by reporting suspicious betting patterns and other information. Illegal bookies aren't too likely to do that sort of thing.
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Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
It is going to exist anyway, so why not?
There is such a thing as right and wrong, too bad so many don't believe that anymore.
And people wonder why things are bad in this country?
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Betting on sports is stupid
Will making it legal cause the illegal component go away ?
Doubt it
What was that catchers name again ?
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Why not have legal betting on high school and pop warner football too. People could do that through a bookie.
Little League baseball would be even better, because they play more games.
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Re:
There is such a thing as right and wrong, too bad so many don't believe that anymore.
Good thing you're here to tell us which is which. I think people should be able to make their own moral decisions. The gambling is going to happen so lets make efforts to keep it clean instead of ignoring it.
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"I think people should be able to make their own moral decisions."
Yeah, that is why things are working out so well here.
I have lived in towns that decided that bringing in gambling will solve all their financial problems, it will build up the economy. I wouldn't want to live there now, it degrades the town. I have not seen one town that it has actually helped. Sure, it brings in revenue, but the town goes downhill.
Your type of thinking is the reason that things are going downhill.
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Re:
Seems to have helped New Albany, Clarksville and Jeffersontown Indiana. Also where ever the hell it is that Belterra is located (Rising Sun, I think).
Horse racing helped make Louisville, KY and we're no more degraded than your average mid-sized city.
But to consider your point as if it were valid, legalizing gambling is often a symptom of greater troubles, such as financial trouble or lack of growth. So your particular burg might be a craphole, but it wasn't gambling that made it so.
Finally, there's nothing wrong with betting on whatever you want, if you can find someone to take the action.
I can legally bet on if I'm going to die or get maimed, my home will get burned down, burgled or flooded or if I'm going to get in an auto accident or hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. And the worst part about all of that is that even if I win, I lose.
Gimme horses or slots any day.
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Re:
"Yeah, that is why things are working out so well here."
Define "here". Because if you mean "America", then yeah, I'd say it's working out alright. Not perfect, but alright. If I want to live in what most would consider low morality, I can move to Vegas. If I want a more conservative, ultra Christian surrounding, all hail Utah. Perhaps I would like to be surrounded by a large Muslim population: let's hear it for Michigan!
What's that? You're a fan of government run institutions and socialism? Let me introduce you to California! No? More intrested in a Republican, corporate influenced way of life? Just go South til you step in it: Texas. Oh, I see, you don't really like government at all? Take a gander at Montanna, my friend.
See, what USED to be nice about this country was that we espoused the belief we should make room for everyone. We weren't always the best at implementing that idea (see slavery, persecution of the Irish/Chinese, Japanese internment camps, etc.), but the belief was generally there. Lately, all this rah rah rah, go America shit is getting a little out of hand.
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The NFL has a lot of nerve
How much of the NFL's popularity is due directly to gambling?
Answer: A Lot!
Why do they still get great ratings on an awful Monday night game? Because 5 million office pools will be settled on the outcome. Why is the point spread published in every legit publication in this country? Because plain wins and losses are not what is important to a large percentage of their fans.
Take away gambling and the NFL loses mountains of cash.
What's next, Hooters is going to outlaw horny men?
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i have my favorite NFL team but the only reason i even stop and think about actually watching the games (rather than reading the news or catching highlights the next day) is because i have a pool with some buddies. now add in some legal betting and that could be even more fun.
isnt gambling (along with prostitution but thats another subject altogether) a great trickle down effect or a great way to disperse wealth? people with money willingly (and eventually) losing it to people with less money? maybe the casino has plenty of money but at least it provides people with less money a job to get some. I see nothing wrong with allowing gambling and i don't understand at all why the NFL would care.
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Re: Re:
It'd be really nice if this site had a thumbs up button or a favorite option or something...
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gambling
but it is to protect the children.
I give you 4 - 7 odds it ain't.
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Re: gambling
I'll bet you $20 you can't go the rest of the day without gambling...
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what...?
Isn't this the sport where they were ready to bring out torches and pitchforks over one team video taping the practice sessions of another? (I am sadly, not that into sports, forgive my lack of specific knowledge.)
I'd say that they're well past the stage of "gambling fans to question whether an erroneous officiating call or a dropped pass late in the game resulted from an honest mistake or an intentional act by a corrupt player or referee".
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Ferin, both of the examples are trying to ensure the same thing, people holding the rules of the game to a high level. So, you fail.
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Legalized and taxed prostitution, marijuana, and gambling combined with a little governmental frugality would eliminate every budget deficit from city to federal in the United States.
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The NFL's logic is undisputable
Clearly the NFL are correct, just look at the evidence. All over the world (outside of the USA) people place bets on many different sports quite legally. Unfortunately the net result of this is that every single sport in the world apart from American football is hugely corrupt and no one really trusts the results. I mean just look at proper football (i.e. soccer), hugely corrupt no one really trusts the outcome because no one knows whether the goalie really let that goal in by accident or is just on the take.
Thankfully the NFL stand clear and true as a paragon of virtue an honesty in this world of filth and corruption. As such when i go to my legal, licensed bookie here in the UK, i can safely make a bet on NFL games knowing they are free of corruption ;-)
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does no one remember tim donaghy?
it's illegal to bet on basketball, yet former nba ref tim donaghy is in prison in part for gaming the score. so who's to say nfl refs aren't doing the same thing? and the commissioners of both leagues have been accused of getting the refs to give certain teams advantages to keep ratings up.
legalizing gambling won't change any of it. in fact, it would make the scrutiny more intense. the leagues would have to make dame sure the games weren't rigged instead of covering up for crummy, possibly deliberately bad calls.
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Re: Betting on sports is stupid
You mean, the 17 time All-Star catcher, that had a lifetime batting average of .303 and 4256 career hits, with 3 World Series championship rings, the 2 time gold glove winner, the 1973 NL MVP, the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year the 1975 World Series MVP the 1976 Roberto Clemente Award winner the 1969 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winner, the 1968 Hutch Award winner, the 1975 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award winner, that catcher?
But you're right, really all he did was bet on baseball.
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I can legally bet on if I'm going to die or get maimed, my home will get burned down, burgled or flooded or if I'm going to get in an auto accident or hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. And the worst part about all of that is that even if I win, I lose.
In MOST states you are legally REQUIRED to make those bets.
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Re:
No, he has a good point. The NFL is claiming that gambling will cause corruption and fans questioning the calls. Ferin is saying that it's already here. People are far too into the game, to the point of death threats. How is legalizing gambling going to make that worse?
You fail at failing.
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If I fail at failing, then obviously I was right.
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Re:
"There is such a thing as right and wrong,"
no, there isn't. There are morals that 99% (hell, I can't even say that) of the population of the world believe, but right and wrong are arbitrary. "Thou shall not kill" yeah, tell that to the Army (or the church), "Thou shall not steal" yeah, tell that to the government (or the RIAA, or the church).
Gambling isn't even one of the extremes, it's a guilty pleasure.
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Re: Re: Betting on sports is stupid
When did Johnny Bench bet on baseball?
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....so basically no one does immorality quite like The Church? I like it!
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Re:
You fail at properly responding to the right post.
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Re: Morality
> There is such a thing as right and wrong,
> too bad so many don't believe that anymore.
And betting on football games is wrong why?
Because you say so? Certainly not because the NFL says so.
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Re: Subjective
> it degrades the town.
"Degrades" is in the eye of the beholder. Some people think Las Vegas is cheesy and classless. Other people love it and actually move there after visiting.
Your personal feelings on what is classy and what is degrading are not the objective benchmark by which everyone else must live.
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Legalize It regualte it
Take the underworld of of Football betting, let the state and federal trweasuries benefit rom it, get the mafia out of it, and ENSURE the integrity of the game, rather than the wild wild west of gambling the way it is now.
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Re: Re: Betting on sports is stupid
"all he did was bet on baseball"
and that was not stupid ?
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Ah, my point was simply that fans and officials are already getting upset over things that seem, at least to me, rather trivial so I don't see a problem in adding gambling to that list.
Perhaps a better example would have been my family's constant assertions that when OSU plays in the... PAC 10, PAC 12? that the officials from those schools always rule against us.
It just seems to me that people already tend to decide that things going against their team are less than on the up and up, at least in some cases, So I don't see that gambling is going to suddenly make that an issue.
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view from the UK.
This is a very interesting argument to read from 'across the pond', where we have the ability to gamble on just about anything legally, in the UK at least.
Firstly, legalising betting won't mean that the streets are 'dirtied up'. Yes, bookies shops are not the most salubrious places on the planet, but this tends to be because the only people that go in them are those with large amounts of time to kill - rather they are in the bookies than out on the park benchs. Most people place bets online or over the phone.
Secondly, corruption. What rubbish. This is one of the reasons many European countries give for banning commercial betting (in many E.U Countries you can ONLY make a book with a state owned bookmaker!), yet the British pro soccer leagues are easily among the least corrupt, and when corruption does occur, it tends to be bets placed in the far east through a syndicate. We still get masses of extremely trivial 'controversy' over every single decision made - this isn't a cause of betting, but living in a 'blame someone for everything' society in which TV comment is treated as if sent by a higher power.
Anyway, if you'd like to learn a bit more about how things (don't) work in the E.U check www.right2bet.net
Thanks!
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Banning betting in the NFL
i think it should be banned because thats how all these rich football teams like the new york jets, which is in new york which has alot of money being put into that team, pitt. steelers, ind. colts, and especially new england patriots are winning games playoffs and superbowls. "MONEY TALKS BULLSHIT WALKS".
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