In recent weeks, there has been a movement to legalize gambling on professional sports games. While betting on sports games is legal in Las Vegas, that is currently the only place where this is allowed to take place. Even with such strict restrictions on sports betting, this is still a multi-billion dollar industry that raked in nearly 5 billion dollars of revenue in 2016 and is expected to soon exceed that number and should pass that number tremendously if this is legalized outside of Nevada. Now obviously, with such large amounts of money being generated in the business, large sports corporations want to be a part of  it. The NFL, NBA, MLB and even the NCAA and other major sports brands are looking for a part in it and the NBA was the first to make a step towards these legal wagers and are asking for 1% of all bets made on all games which may seem miniscule but will ultimately add up to a lot of money. Now there could be good and bad that comes from legalizing such sorts of gambling and many people are on the side of making it a reality, especially the sports organizations.

Via CalvinAyre.com

Gambling has always been a part of sports but it does not have a good history within sports and I think that is what people are afraid of. While thousands of bets go on in Las Vegas on the daily, there are always the notable incidents in the past that ruin it for everyone and make people hesitant to take it to the next level. The most legendary stories of sports gambling include stories like that of Pete Rose who now has a lifetime ban from baseball because of bets he placed illegally and bets that he even placed on the Reds, who he was managing at the time. Other stories include that involving point shaving in college basketball which has happened on numerous occasions where gamblers bribe college basketball players to not throw away the game but to allow the other team to cover the spread (let the score points so that the people betting can win their bets on how much that team is going to win by) so that they can win their bets. Now the most major of sports gambling incidents which is likely the basis for why it is not legal today is due to the Chicago “BlackSocks”scandal in 1919 where eight white socks players were paid a total of $100,000 to purposely lose the World Series.

Via Phactual

If gambling became legalized everywhere, there is no doubt that there would be people who would take advantage of it and more incidents like this would happen. Maybe not on that big of a stage but players being influenced by the money (yeah like they aren’t already) could really hurt the integrity of the game that their is today. This would also put lots of pressure on players to perform to the liking of the gamblers and could result in major backlash from these people if their team does not win or the player they bet on does not perform the way they wanted them to.

Now many fans are on board with the idea. The NBA has proposed that gambling goes much more widespread than just at Casinos. They are pushing for legalized betting at kiosks and even on your smartphone. With this easy of access to gambling, it could create an even greater issue for people who have gambling problems. Now the NBA could care less about that issue because with such easy access to wagering on their sports events, if they are earning a commission of the wagers, they will obviously be making more money.Now these issues are being analyzed at the level of the Supreme Court and it is expected that a decision on the subject could be coming out by spring time this year.

In my opinion, I do not think this is a good idea. Betting on sports has been an interesting part of sports the way it is now. Even though I do not bet on sports myself, I do enjoy looking Vegas’s odds put out on “Who is going to win the Heisman Trophy” or “What team is going to win the Super Bowl this year”. But that is the small amount that I think should be allowed. Sports betting would take over and I believe it would be on the same level as fantasy football is today. With millions of users, people watch pro football games, not to see who wins but to scream at the TV screen in joy when a player on their team scores a touchdown for their fantasy team or curse that player’s name if he gets injured. It takes away from the simplicity and relaxing nature of being able to watch these game with your friends and family and while this will open up a new market for income in these major corporations, they obviously do not have the populations best interest in mind when going through with this.