The NHL embracing sports gambling was a major mistake

[Section 104]

Back in the 1970s a columnist for the Sporting News, Leonard Koppett, wrote an interesting column of what legalized gambling would do. He noted that around 1910 a horse named Dan Patch was one of the biggest celebrities in America. His feats on the track were celebrated. But over the years as gambling became legal on horse racing, and virtually no where else, things changed so that by the mid 1970s the emphasis on the evening new sports report was how much the daily double paid.
Could it be in a few years that’s all we hear about a sporting event…what wagers paid and not the final score?


Phil Mushnick, grumpy old man for the New York Post, noted these ads really emphasize a trifecta…for example McDavid gets at least two points, Draistl gets a goal and Nashville scores 3 or more; Hard to hit all three but they will push these instead of something simple Oilers 40 or more shots on goal? Apparently a lot of these companies will start restricting how much you can bet if you actually are good at picking winners.

 

[Mike C]

Hurts the integrity of the game + hurts the integrity of the watching experience. I would never put my families money in the hands of a hockey game and people pushing others to do so are being unethical.

Right on baby! Preach it loud!

Hold on Harness Racing is coming on and I gotta check my jail alai tickets

What's that? Cut the deck for a dollar?--- make it ten and shuffle up!!

 

[Oleksiak]

Biggest thing for me is the corruption that can follow gambling and sports. If you're old enough you saw it ruin boxing.

Sutherland was working long before this and I doubt he's called an honest game in his life. There's written evidence documenting Colin Campbell's corruption and the league seems to be ok with the continued employment of these career criminals. The NHL had a bigger problem than boxing to start with.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

I don't gamble on sports, but I have no problem with others doing it if that's the way they want to spend their money.

My issue is with how embedded gambling has become in the broadcasts. It really takes away from the experience and cheapens the broadcast. Along with the plethora of ads all over the viewing space on the TV, now I get to see gambling BS as well. Some networks are worse than others.

It would be good if the league and broadcasters would dial back on the promotion of gambling. No issue with the legality of gambling, but for crap sake don't shove it down the throats of people interested mainly in watching the game.

 

[Moist ReadOnly]

It was inevitable and it makes them a lot of money. Eventually maybe the league can back off on the advertising but..

 

[bambamcam4ever]

I will admit, when the NHL first started partnering with these gambling sites, I was excited about it because I liked sports gambling at the time. But as more time has gone on, I think it has become abundantly clear that it has caused massive detriments towards fans, players and the game itself. And this isn't just a NHL thing, it's all NA pro sports that are guilty of this.

Just a couple of examples:

1. The Jeff Marek situation was covered in another thread, but for a quick write-up of what happened, Marek was leaking draft picks in the 2024 draft and was fired for it. This kind of stuff has been done for years, but he was fired this time because of the gambling impacts of his leaks. The Nevada Game Control Board has questioned him for if he was using insider information to help people make money, which could result in him going to jail. He was doing what insiders have done for years, but now since the NHL is in bed with gambling, it could result in him getting arrested.

2. There is a large segment of fans who have become addicted to sports gambling and often harass players if their bets lose due to players. The most recent example (that prompted me to make this thread) was this situation with the Mariners:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1818802436439785879

https://x.com/i/web/status/1818834979553452400

This isn't a new thing either. I can't remember the exact player, but I remember a player had a clear path for a TD but went down to burn out the clock rather than score the TD. This caused the over/under to not be hit, so that player received a ton of death threats on social media because of it. It's disgusting behavior that is being fueled by addiction.

3. On a similar topic to the previous one, both players and fans are ruining their lives by getting addicted to sports gambling. You've had numerous players in all sports getting suspended, with some guys getting lifetime bans from the sport and losing their livelihoods. You can say "play stupid games, win stupid prizes" all you want, but these sports are actively encouraging people to gamble on their games. I have a friend whose brother has lost thousands to gambling and is in Gambler's Anonymous to get help now.

Nothing will ever change in these sports because they're getting a ton of money to get in bed with sports gambling, but I really feel like it's a massive detriment both towards the sport and to the fans/players of the sport as well. I used to love sports gambling like 5 years ago, but the oversaturation of it and the clear detriments of it make me wish these leagues never would have embraced it in the first place.

Let's not forget about games being rigged due to gambling too. MLB suspended an umpire for gambling, and he's just the one who got caught.

Also, if you bet on draft picks and don't have inside information you are a massive idiot, because there are people who do.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Biggest thing for me is the corruption that can follow gambling and sports. If you're old enough you saw it ruin boxing.

And horse racing.

I know it goes a long way back, but within living memory the sports pages were dominated by baseball, boxing, and horse racing. Boxing and racing succumbed to gambling culture and became associated with a seedy, degenerate environment. Questions about the legitimacy of the competition dogged them for generations, and for good reason as they were known to be corrupt. They never recovered.

Baseball was this close to being pulled in the same direction. The Black Sox scandal was a sign of a sport headed down the toilet with the “competition” turning into a platform for gambling, which leads inevitably to match-fixing. Baseball’s scorched earth response saved the game, and they did not forget. It became popular to complain about Pete Rose being banned from the game, but that decision was attached to an existential threat to MLB. When Rose messed with the bull, he got the horns.

Now, another generation or two later, we’ve let it slip again. And there is absolutely nothing stopping today’s dominant sports from falling off in such a way that kids in 2050 associate them with sketchy balding guys in half-empty arenas trying to hit a parlay in a game nobody cares about.

 

[Mike C]

And horse racing.

I know it goes a long way back, but within living memory the sports pages were dominated by baseball, boxing, and horse racing. Boxing and racing succumbed to gambling culture and became associated with a seedy, degenerate environment. Questions about the legitimacy of the competition dogged them for generations, and for good reason as they were known to be corrupt. They never recovered.

Baseball was this close to being pulled in the same direction. The Black Sox scandal was a sign of a sport headed down the toilet with the “competition” turning into a platform for gambling, which leads inevitably to match-fixing. Baseball’s scorched earth response saved the game, and they did not forget. It became popular to complain about Pete Rose being banned from the game, but that decision was attached to an existential threat to MLB. When Rose messed with the bull, he got the horns.

Now, another generation or two later, we’ve let it slip again. And there is absolutely nothing stopping today’s dominant sports from falling off in such a way that kids in 2050 associate them with sketchy balding guys in half-empty arenas trying to hit a parlay in a game nobody cares about.

Bubba Smith went to his grave saying the reason Earl Morrall threw the ball to Jim Hudson not Jim Orr is because the famous guarantee wasn't from Namath but from the mob fixers

 

[Empoleon8771]

I don't gamble on sports, but I have no problem with others doing it if that's the way they want to spend their money.

My issue is with how embedded gambling has become in the broadcasts. It really takes away from the experience and cheapens the broadcast. Along with the plethora of ads all over the viewing space on the TV, now I get to see gambling BS as well. Some networks are worse than others.

It would be good if the league and broadcasters would dial back on the promotion of gambling. No issue with the legality of gambling, but for crap sake don't shove it down the throats of people interested mainly in watching the game.

Yeah I want to be clear, I'm not trying to argue that sports gambling should be illegal or anything like that. I dislike how much the NHL has embraced sports gambling and actively encourages/advertises it. They're trying to get as many people to start sports gambling as possible because these sportsbooks are paying them a ton of money.

I still enjoy sports gambling every now and then, just because it's fun to place bets on a team and get invested in a random team for a random event based on it. But the NHL's advertising is basically "do this all of the time with every game" and hammering fans with these ads non-stop. It's creating addicts who ruin their lives because of money the sportsbooks are paying the NHL for advertisement. The NHL isn't causing fans to ruin their lives with sports betting, but they're actively encouraging it.

 

[ijuka]

I don't mind sports gambling, and I do it myself sometimes.

But I do mind them constantly talking about it. Holy shit. Have some separate sportsbook channel or something, but let people who want to watch the game watch the game.

 

[SirJW]

They promote alcohol, should they stop that too?

The broadcasters don't tell you it's not too late to take a shot or have another beer before each period.

 

[CanadienShark]

All sports leagues whore themselves out. This was gonna happen as soon as local and state governments wanted in on gambling sites.

Money wins in the end regardless.

I can't wait to see bets placed on when cities get a new hospital or bridge.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Good thing they're using all that money to really promote the sport more

Oh wait

 

[Hennessy]

Like many of you, I don't have any moral objection to gambling. And while it's perhaps the one vice I don't personally indulge in, I don't begrudge others their participation.

It's the goddamn incessant deluge of odds and promotions during broadcasts that irks me. It is excessive and tiresome.
Mentioning the odds once before a game? Knock yourself out.

Bringing it up constantly with in-game promos and disguised as studio commentary?
Get bent.

(I notice as I type this on mobile I've ironically got an ad for online gambling staring me in the face)

 

[Lshap]

Do we actually have stats to show this impact? Because honestly anybody I know who is gambling on a regular basis was doing the exact same thing before the NHL embraced it.

Obviously I know visibility would likely lead to an uptick but I honestly have a hard time buying that it's really awoken an addiction in people. All that's really changed is they're driving traffic to their partnered sites. Like I don't think advertising alcohol is turning non-drinkers into alcoholics, it's pushing people who already drink towards specific products

I guarantee the gambling companies have these stats. If they weren't attracting new customers they wouldn't continue investing so much advertising revenue. The exponential growth of online gambling ads suggests it works, which means boatloads of new gamblers and new bets.

The ultimate irony is gambling companies don't gamble with their own money.

 

[pld459666]

Sports in general embracing sports gambling is dangerous and dumb.

IMHO

 

[Iwishihadaspacebar]

Sports Gambling is for those who can't do math.

The irony of this is that successful sports gamblers (there are some, I know, I worked in gambling here in Europe for many years) are often successful because they are good at maths.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Poor Pete Rose…

 

[Macman]

They promote alcohol, should they stop that too?

Why not? They banned cigarette commercials decades ago.

 

[JPT]

How does the NHL not promoting gambling fix any of these things?

It isn't about fixing those issues. It's about not playing an active role in making those issues worse.

 

[PaulD]

Sports gambling in the NHL has personally not changed anything in my experience/viewing of hockey games.


Until of course there's a scandal or people start throwing games I really don't care

viewing no....listening yes. Big time.
Cabby and the gang babbling on about money lines just got too annoying.
"you know you wanna tap that app"
Trash.

 

[JPT]

Gambling is stupid and the new idiot tax for this generation. The bombardment of advertisement and now accessibility everywhere is predatory and exactly what tobacco and alcohol companies did.

All that being said, the league would take money from just about any company willing to give it to them and individuals have a personal responsibility to not do stupid things.

As much as I want gambling ads gone, you also can’t idiot proof the world.

Gambling isn't new, and addiction isn't a sign of idiocy. Plenty of incredibly smart people have addictions, just like plenty of idiots think of themselves as above addicts because they don't recognize their own vices as such.

 

[PaulD]

It’s ruined broadcasts of the game.

yup.

 

[eXile3]

Gambling isn't new, and addiction isn't a sign of idiocy. Plenty of incredibly smart people have addictions, just like plenty of idiots think of themselves as above addicts because they don't recognize their own vices as such.

This. I have family members who have had issues and they struggle mightily to stop. They know it’s wrong but their brain chemistry brings them back.

It doesn’t help that every other commercial is DraftKings

 

[Macman]

What I really object to is betting commercials thinly disguised as editorial content on broadcasts.