I'm not sure when this trend began, but I have never seen so many commercials during CFB games (NFL too I think) that were about how you can gamble on sports. Obviously, people have been gambling on sports since games of contest first came on the scene in ancient times. And in the U.S., you used to have to either know a bookie and bet on games illegally or participated in office betting pools that someone would run for the group. Then I think it was 5 to 7 years ago people got into off shore gambling thru the web. So as of today, it's officially legal to gamble on sports completely out in the open now?
This leads into the next prediction - the scandals. Do you expect to see a lot more scandals moving forward since the betting aspect seems to be getting more popular than ever? I'm expecting we'll see a number of them, and heaven help CFB if it does. IMHO, CFB does not have nearly as much slack in this as the pro organizations would because college sports are supposed to be "different".
Gambling online is illegal in the US however there is one exception Fantasy Sports if you look at the law it allows gambling on Fantasy Sports. This was allowed for groups of people to still be able to do their fantasy leagues and have some winnings at the end of the year. Similar to playing in a golf tournament when you pay an entry fee and if you win you get paid out. As long as you have some control (ie picking your own players and teams and straight betting) it is legal. This is how these websites are getting by with this. How long will Congress allow this I don't know. Most people do not have a problem with it. I for one believe if someone wants to bet on things let them, if they loose all their money there fought should have been smarter. People gamble with daily stock trades daily also just not sports.
(09-22-2015 07:59 AM)Carolina_Low_Country Wrote: [ -> ]Gambling online is illegal in the US however there is one exception Fantasy Sports if you look at the law it allows gambling on Fantasy Sports. This was allowed for groups of people to still be able to do their fantasy leagues and have some winnings at the end of the year. Similar to playing in a golf tournament when you pay an entry fee and if you win you get paid out. As long as you have some control (ie picking your own players and teams and straight betting) it is legal. This is how these websites are getting by with this. How long will Congress allow this I don't know. Most people do not have a problem with it. I for one believe if someone wants to bet on things let them, if they loose all their money there fought should have been smarter. People gamble with daily stock trades daily also just not sports.
I don't care if people gamble at all or not. But if this gets big enough, money will inspire point shaving IMHO. It may not be a coach being swayed but individual players. With it being fantasy though, we're not talking point shaving to account for spreads but I guess fantasy stats. Potentially new areas of deceit.
(09-22-2015 07:15 AM)miko33 Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not sure when this trend began, but I have never seen so many commercials during CFB games (NFL too I think) that were about how you can gamble on sports.
That's because legally, it's not "gambling". Fantasy sports is defined as a game of skill and knowledge, not primarily chance:
" ... a 2006 Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has an exemption for fantasy sports because it’s considered skill based." (WIAT.com).
I wish I had invented the concept of a one-day or one-week fantasy season, obviously these companies are making a killing off of it.
No thanks. IMO anything that requires a monetary risk is nothing more than another tax on the poor man, or a way for a wealthy person to fleece a bunch of unsuspecting fools.
You get one big winner, who they advertise the crap out of, making everyone think they'll be the next one, even though their odds of winning are a million to one or worse.
Online gaming really exploded at the turn of the century before cooling off in the mid aughts. Picking the winner of a football game on a consistent basis is skill-based, in my opinion.
Pete Fiutak had a few takes on this in his
Cavalcade of Whimsy column last week.
...And, I was submitting, there was a FanDuel commercial on the financial news channel I watch in the morning.
(09-22-2015 08:33 AM)quo vadis Wrote: [ -> ] (09-22-2015 07:15 AM)miko33 Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not sure when this trend began, but I have never seen so many commercials during CFB games (NFL too I think) that were about how you can gamble on sports.
That's because legally, it's not "gambling". Fantasy sports is defined as a game of skill and knowledge, not primarily chance:
" ... a 2006 Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has an exemption for fantasy sports because it’s considered skill based." (WIAT.com).
I wish I had invented the concept of a one-day or one-week fantasy season, obviously these companies are making a killing off of it.
Fantasy leagues are become bigger than the games themselves IMHO. While legally it's not gambling, obviously it is. But yes, it is a loophole being exploited right now.
For the record, I'm not against gambling - even outright gambling on the games themselves. Case in point is the day trading example someone mentioned earlier, which is obvious gambling as opposed to investing which is based on research, planning and time horizons for future goals.
(09-22-2015 08:29 AM)miko33 Wrote: [ -> ] (09-22-2015 07:59 AM)Carolina_Low_Country Wrote: [ -> ]Gambling online is illegal in the US however there is one exception Fantasy Sports if you look at the law it allows gambling on Fantasy Sports. This was allowed for groups of people to still be able to do their fantasy leagues and have some winnings at the end of the year. Similar to playing in a golf tournament when you pay an entry fee and if you win you get paid out. As long as you have some control (ie picking your own players and teams and straight betting) it is legal. This is how these websites are getting by with this. How long will Congress allow this I don't know. Most people do not have a problem with it. I for one believe if someone wants to bet on things let them, if they loose all their money there fought should have been smarter. People gamble with daily stock trades daily also just not sports.
I don't care if people gamble at all or not. But if this gets big enough, money will inspire point shaving IMHO. It may not be a coach being swayed but individual players. With it being fantasy though, we're not talking point shaving to account for spreads but I guess fantasy stats. Potentially new areas of deceit.
I am curious if fantasy sports betting has had any effect on the amount of money bet on actual sports. I could see it going either way. I don't see fantasy sports being something professional gamblers would be interested in except to use their expertise in the administrative side of the business. On that side, you are only concerned about volume, not who wins or loses. You are going to get a small cut of every bet, plus these days you get to sell ads on the betting website. Win-win.
If I were (still) a betting man, though, I would bet that we are overdue for a point shaving scandal.
Maybe I am missing something obvious, but how would fantasy sports cause point shaving?
(09-22-2015 09:13 AM)Minutemen429 Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe I am missing something obvious, but how would fantasy sports cause point shaving?
I don't think it would, unless it leads to increased betting on actual games as well. If you bring in a whole new crop of amateur gamblers, they may branch out beyond fantasy betting.
Anything that has that much money depending on an outcome is a target for those who wish to massage the odds a bit.
Only a fool doesn't consider such things, since human nature tells you it's inevitable.
(09-22-2015 09:22 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: [ -> ]Anything that has that much money depending on an outcome is a target for those who wish to massage the odds a bit.
Only a fool doesn't consider such things, since human nature tells you it's inevitable.
It's hard for me to see how fantasy betting can be reliably manipulated, since players from so many different teams are combined onto a single fantasy team. But I suspect that people who
can see how it can be manipulated count on the naivete of people like me.
(09-22-2015 09:27 AM)ken d Wrote: [ -> ] (09-22-2015 09:22 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: [ -> ]Anything that has that much money depending on an outcome is a target for those who wish to massage the odds a bit.
Only a fool doesn't consider such things, since human nature tells you it's inevitable.
It's hard for me to see how fantasy betting can be reliably manipulated, since players from so many different teams are combined onto a single fantasy team. But I suspect that people who can see how it can be manipulated count on the naivete of people like me.
To be honest, I wouldn't know either. However, it comes back to how big is this becoming. If there is a lot of money out there to be had, people will find a way to exploit it - illegally if the odds are small. Then again, maybe point shaving is not the right thoughts in this but some other way.
Maybe I'm overly cynical and this all goes on without any illegal dealings or corruption within the sports themselves. I doubt it though.
(09-22-2015 09:13 AM)Minutemen429 Wrote: [ -> ]Maybe I am missing something obvious, but how would fantasy sports cause point shaving?
It's going to happen if it isn't already. You can win a million dollars by a certain WR on Boise having a monster day? I'm guessing their is a Wyoming defensive back somewhere who will listen to offers. I'm just throwing out random team names. You can let guys score so others win huge money.
(09-22-2015 08:36 AM)bitcruncher Wrote: [ -> ]No thanks. IMO anything that requires a monetary risk is nothing more than another tax on the poor man, or a way for a wealthy person to fleece a bunch of unsuspecting fools.
You get one big winner, who they advertise the crap out of, making everyone think they'll be the next one, even though their odds of winning are a million to one or worse.
True, but do you want to stop people from being foolish if the harm is localized to themselves and their immediate family?
Picks for this week:
Duke +9 over Georgia Tech
Arkansas +7.5 over Texas A&M
UTSA +9.5 over Colorado State
(09-22-2015 07:15 AM)miko33 Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not sure when this trend began, but I have never seen so many commercials during CFB games (NFL too I think) that were about how you can gamble on sports. Obviously, people have been gambling on sports since games of contest first came on the scene in ancient times. And in the U.S., you used to have to either know a bookie and bet on games illegally or participated in office betting pools that someone would run for the group. Then I think it was 5 to 7 years ago people got into off shore gambling thru the web. So as of today, it's officially legal to gamble on sports completely out in the open now?
This leads into the next prediction - the scandals. Do you expect to see a lot more scandals moving forward since the betting aspect seems to be getting more popular than ever? I'm expecting we'll see a number of them, and heaven help CFB if it does. IMHO, CFB does not have nearly as much slack in this as the pro organizations would because college sports are supposed to be "different".
Fan Duel and DratKings have spent +$100 million on commercials since the start of the NFL season.
(09-22-2015 07:59 AM)Carolina_Low_Country Wrote: [ -> ]Gambling online is illegal in the US however there is one exception Fantasy Sports if you look at the law it allows gambling on Fantasy Sports. This was allowed for groups of people to still be able to do their fantasy leagues and have some winnings at the end of the year. Similar to playing in a golf tournament when you pay an entry fee and if you win you get paid out. As long as you have some control (ie picking your own players and teams and straight betting) it is legal. This is how these websites are getting by with this. How long will Congress allow this I don't know. Most people do not have a problem with it. I for one believe if someone wants to bet on things let them, if they loose all their money there fought should have been smarter. People gamble with daily stock trades daily also just not sports.
It's not a gamble if you know you're going to get bailed out if things go belly up. (ZING! - but true)
(09-22-2015 08:29 AM)miko33 Wrote: [ -> ]I don't care if people gamble at all or not. But if this gets big enough, money will inspire point shaving IMHO. It may not be a coach being swayed but individual players. With it being fantasy though, we're not talking point shaving to account for spreads but I guess fantasy stats. Potentially new areas of deceit.
But it is not like gambling is just now getting "big." Gambling has been "big" for decades. It is just getting more convenient on how to do it. And in some ways, changing. Fantasy sports do not lend themselves to point shaving," because there are too many moving parts to make it effective. Also while it could certainly happen, for the most part professional players are fairly immune to point shaving since they generally make so much money, the amount it would typically take to turn them would be too astronomical. Not fully immune obviously, but mostly immune.
People found a way to exploit money away from people and are now advertising for dummies to spend money to align the pockets of those that are exploiting them.
The government will have it shut down pretty quickly.