04/19/24
January 31, 2008
The Official Line vs. The Betting Line: Each year at Super Bowl time, N.F.L. executives go to great lengths to distance the league from the estimated $10 billion in gambling that it generates, not only in Las Vegas, but also in offshore betting shops, office and bar pools and among illegal bookies. They were not only friends and founding fathers of the N.F.L., but Art Rooney and Tim Mara were also gamblers, proud ones. In 1936, Rooney, whose family still owns the Pittsburgh Steelers, famously turned two prescient days at the racetrack into $300,000. In 1925, Mara, a bookmaker in the days when that profession was not only legal but honourable, paid $500 for the New York Giants
posted by tommytrump to business and law at 12:22 PM - 2 comments
knowssome, what do you expect them to do? You can disagree, but here is what the article said about your two points: “Bert Bell realized that gambling on football was not going to go away but he also understood the league had to be as transparent as possible in protecting the integrity of the game — that there could not be any rumor or innuendo that the fix was in, or it could kill the sport.” The next season, Bell announced that the league would publish before each game a report of the injuries of all players and their likelihood of participating. It evolved into the detailed midweek report that a remains a staple of the N.F.L. “It was intended to provide information that assured the public that the game was played honestly,” MacCambridge said. “But paradoxically, it gave bettors more information and greater confidence that they were betting on an honest game.”
posted by endorfin at 07:16 AM on February 01, 2008
It is almost inconceivable that the NFL even conceptualizes that it is not a "gambling venue". There must be a really large opioum glob in the 30+ hose hooka pipe that they are all smoking if they do not realize the enormous amount of money bet weekly both legally and illegally on their games. They have actually banned the major networks from posting the "spread" of the games on a weekly basis. What a bunch of liars....why even have an injured report unless you are providing information to the gamblers and bookmakers? The other teams could watch films PROVIDED by the league if they need to know who is injured. The "questionable" and "doubtful" list is nothing more than a tool for the gambling community. Come on NFL, lets start dealing with reality.