National
Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver stepped outside the box last
year when he came out in favor of legalized sports betting in an op-ed piece
for the New York Times
The major sports leagues have long been opposed to legalized betting, but Silver said it’s time to address the reality of sports gambling. Silver began to refine his views on the subject when he oversaw the NBA’s international operations and was able to see how legalized betting worked in Europe and Asia.
There’s a bit of self-interest involved in Silver’s stance. As the National Football League has proved, gambling can raise interest in a sport and there’s a perception that leagues can share in any legalized betting activity by taking a cut of the 10-per-cent vigorish that currently goes to bookmakers.
Hockey is one of the most difficult sports to bet on and the NHL is on record as opposing legalized gambling. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Silver was entitled to his opinion, but added the NHL didn’t share it.
But there’s a measure of hypocrisy in the way the NHL and other leagues address the question of gambling.
The NFL is opposed to legalized gambling, but recognizes the importance of gambling to its popularity and requires teams to provide exact information on injuries, which are a potential factor in a game’s outcome. Major League Baseball gives gamblers a heads up by requiring teams to announce their starting pitchers in advance.
Here in Canada, we have schemes like Mise-o-jeu that allow fans to bet on games. There are ads for casinos and lotteries on rink boards throughout the NHL and the league is quietly encouraging the expansion hopes of a Las Vegas group that plans to install an NHL team in an arena attached to a casino.
The silliest statements on the subject came from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in interviews last year with CNN’s Rachel Nichols and Dave Shoalts of the Globe and Mail.
Bettman wondered what legalized betting “would do to the way sports fans, especially young fans, cheer for their favourite teams. Does it change the dynamic of the relationship that a child has growing up rooting for his or her favourite team to enter the concern of are you going to win your bet?”
Bettman went on to suggest legalized gambling would get people involved in betting at a younger age and lead to lifelong affliction.
Those are legitimate concerns, but they ignore some realities. While it would be naive to suggest young people would have less exposure to a regulated gambling system, the chances of protecting them would be better than they are now.
As for that idea about rooting for your favourite team, I agree — and that’s why I think player pools are stupid.
But Bettman and company didn’t have any second thoughts about getting into bed with DraftKings, the official hockey pool of the NHL.
