The problem with expressing your concerns about the legalization of sports betting is that you are guaranteed to be called a pious, pearl-hungry, talkative, out-of-touch moron.
But that’s me on a good day, so who cares and here goes: I’m not comfortable with legalized sports betting.
I also recognize that it is here to stay. If you tell me you turned part of your salary into betting on last week’s Dodgers-Giants series, I say: fine. Games were played at Dodger Stadium in 2024, not Ebbets Field in 1954, the latter being a place and time when the game was prevalent, albeit dark. It was also a place and time when play-by-play barkers Red Barber and Vin Scully were up there in the booth plugging Schaefer beer, not FanDuel. It was a long, long time ago. It’s today. And you and I are citizens of today. (Disclosure: BetMGM is the exclusive sports betting partner of Athleticism.)
But the beer/gaming analogy is a good starting point for where I intend to go with this. Beer was legal then and it is now. Same with harder forms of alcohol. But these days we’re expected to be careful about indulging, even though TV commercials are usually casual in making the point, if they bother to do so at all.
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And yet, sometimes brewing companies pleasantly surprise us, as the folks at Budweiser did a few years ago with the ad showing a young man going out for the night with his buddies, leaving his dog at home. The night gets darker and we see a series of shots of the poor dog, alone, worried. And we, the viewers, are now worried too, moving a little closer to the television and fearing that something will go horribly wrong. The spot fuels this fear by blending into a dark message displayed on a black background: “For some, the wait never ends”.
Fortunately, the sun rises, the door opens and the young man is there to hug his dog, explaining in a few words that he ate a few too many last night and decided to sleep at her friend’s. The spot works because it’s like the message isn’t being delivered to you but to you – just You. It’s not weighed down by a very serious voiceover artist warning you not to drink and drive. There is no fine print at the bottom of the screen to comply with some sort of government decree. They show you a guy and a dog, then they plant the seed of a horrible car accident. But there is no horrible car accident. Responsibility and maturity take over, and the spot ends with the young man hugging his dog. “I’m back,” he said. “I’m back.” And then he repeats it one more time. “I’m back.»
It’s brilliant. And that’s precisely the kind of message that needs to be sent to sports bettors. Of course, that doesn’t happen. Instead, it’s all glitz and glamour. It’s Tom Brady and Vince Vaughn. These are “Bet $5, Get $150” and “Offer New Players 100% Deposit”. Yes, the spots have little warnings at the bottom of the screen, including: “Gaming problem? Call 1-800-Gambler. While I’m sure many people have called this number as a starting point for help with their gambling addiction, it seems to me to be nothing more than the government-mandated warning on a pack of cigarettes.
Common sense tells us that advertisements are aimed at younger people. Sports betting is presented as cool, fun and sexy. I’m sure there’s some FOMO too: you know your friends are betting on games, so you pick up your phone and start betting on games.
Yes, the problem is bigger than all that. We should also be concerned about athletes getting caught up in the seedy side of sports betting. We should also be concerned about athletes facing the wrath of angry fans. According to AthleticismDavid Aldridge’s David Aldridge, “…at least one team (NBA) has added an additional security guard to its bench this season, in response to increased gambling-related belligerence. Another team has beefed up its cybersecurity team, to detect the particularly heinous vitriol sent by fans to his players online.
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And then there’s the hypocrisy of professional sports leagues partnering with sports betting companies while issuing all sorts of rules and regulations designed to keep their current athletes from jumping into the pool.
“If the integrity of the game was truly paramount,” writes AthleticismAccording to Jim Trotter, “Gaming and any association with it would be prohibited. Period. There would be no solution allowing players to bet on any sport other than their own. Don’t you like it? Find another field of work. But instead of erecting virtual barriers to protect the game, sports leagues continue to open their doors and their arms.”
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These are valid concerns. But I’m less worried about athletes getting booed and leagues leaving their integrity at the door than I am about an entire generation of sports fans being swallowed up by the game. This is something that deserves continued dialogue – at home, at school, in the media. It would be nice if we had a tearjerker commercial that could teach this lesson using a guy, his dog and a night out with friends, but that would be naive. (Who came up with this Budweiser ad? Please message me. Maybe we can work on something that uses the simplicity and sentimental touch of this old beer ad to solve a problem modern.)
The worry isn’t that beginning sports bettors are putting themselves through strain. The problem is that they will never hide anything for the future. Or maybe that’s the problem, with millennials and Gen Z choosing to prioritize other things rather than embarking on the increasingly complex treadmill of saving for a home.
If this is a philosophical question, then stop reading and move on. But if it’s not philosophical — that is, if you get sucked into sports betting — there’s an age-old savings practice (like that of the baby boomers) that can help. It’s called pay-it-yourself principle, where you dedicate a portion of your monthly income to some form of savings, whether it’s a 401(k), index fund or other long-term investment. The concept is that you pay yourself with the same regularity with which you pay your rent, utilities, car loan, etc. Next, you determine how much you spend each month on entertainment: restaurants, movies, clubs, travel, etc. And then you make a deal with yourself: you can only bet on sports that come from your entertainment allowance. The rest is prohibited.
I admit that this is all rather quaint and naive. But the way I see it, the crowd that lives for the action and thrill of sports betting ignored me seven paragraphs ago.
If you’re still reading, this is for you.
(Photo of former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski promoting the FanDuel Kick of Destiny ahead of the 2023 Super Bowl: Cheryl Evans / USA Today)