On May 14th, 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court changed the federal law that prohibited sports gambling in the country. It is now up to the local government as to whether they will push forward with a new law allowing sports gambling in their state. The rest of the country can finally catch up to where Las Vegas has been for years, thank goodness.
There will surely be problems with this change in the law, as with any new law, and it will be nearly impossible to foresee all the loopholes and issues that may come along with this legalization in betting. But now, similar to the states that have legalized marijuana, the government can start benefiting from something the rest of us have been doing for years.
One big problem may be players will lesser importance, and therefore lesser attention on them, throwing games in order to make some big money on the side. The long snapper or placeholder in football come to mind first. “Accidentally” messing up a snap or a hold is not extraordinarily common in years past, but it happens enough to not make us question the integrity of the player. That may change if the snapper has 15 friends all betting the max on his team to lose by three points. Referees in every sport (it may already be apparent in foreign soccer matches) will need a close eye kept on them as well. The list can go on and on of who can slightly throw a game just enough to make some extra money. The sports leagues should keep a hard line against whoever is caught, i.e. Pete Rose’s lifetime ban.
Something of interest will be how bookies are affected by this change. The relationship with a bookie has always been the perfect example of a love-hate relationship, but a relationship nonetheless. Being a bookie is the way some of these guys pay their way through college. It may be sad to see the era of bookkeeping come to an end. Although, it did have a tendency to turn violent quickly. Yet it will still be sad to see our kids not understand what Robert De Niro is up to in Silver Linings Playbook.
Sports teams will be the beneficiary of this change, too. Mark Cuban has made headlines with his statement that every team has just doubled their worth with the legalization of sports betting. That may be a little far-fetched, but who am I to argue with the billionaire shark that is Cuban. It will certainly be exciting to be able to gamble on a football game, for example, while inside the stadium. This could lead to a dangerous road, though. The owners in every league should come together and make a decision on what would be the smartest way to organize this for the entire league.
In any view, this is exciting for sports and is long overdue. The downsides will be hard to be perceived, while the benefits are great for gamblers. Those with no interest in degenerately losing money will not see much of a change. Let's hope the whispers of leagues (talking to you NFL) taking a big percent of winnings do not come to fruition.
