Let's get ready to...gamble! (OT)

[bkeich]

Personally it's always going to be separate for me, I'm not necessarily even inclined to bet on the Phillies as I only ever want them to win, period.

You would have made a terrible Pete Rose.

[el-pietro]

I've been listening to a podcast talking about this today and its interesting they are are looking at how things are done in Nevada rather than in Europe where sports gambling already exists. They also talked a lot about how the leagues and players want a % of the revenues from gambling as an "integrity fee"
My only concern with legalised gambling is not with the major leagues but with the minor leagues and college leagues. Maybe gambling won't be allowed on those leagues but here you can place bets on amateur soccer games between local sides and there are regular stories of teams betting on themselves when they know the opposition is missing players but the bookies don't.
The other part of this is what we see in smaller leagues in Eastern Europe and how they are approached by the equivalent of mobsters and paid to throw games, or to make sure spot bets pay out. Minor league players who are not paid very well or college kids with massive college loans are going to be very vulnerable to this.

[Jeff05]

Mmmm similar experiences to cricket competitions around the world. Gambling - legal or otherwise - is not good news for sport.

[andyb]

Not super excited to hear teams wanting to monetize gambling. They already get their anti-trust exemptions and now they probably want to co-own betting sites by providing some sort of inside information or access (injury reports, maybe lineups a bit early, etc.). At some point they really need to get their anti-trust exemptions reviewed. It is not like they are doing this to lower our cable bills.

[zambonir]

"Integrity fee' Is a great euphemism for "give us our cut." But, it's their product, to them it's almost like TV rights. I'm sure in the end there is going to end up being an "official sports book of MLB," just like there is for secondary ticketing and everything else.

Not seeing any trends in politics that would suggest the anti-trust exemption is not going to get looked at any time soon.

[el-pietro]

Teams in Europe don't get any money from gambling, though many teams do carry advertisements from Online Gambling Companies on their jerseys.