The NHL embracing sports gambling was a major mistake

[JPT]

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

There are also medications that lower impulse control and make people more susceptible to gambling problems. Notably, side effects to medications don't make people less smart or less moral or whatever other extremely judgemental thing some people like to claim.

 

[BTO]

In Ontario, what used to be the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport is now the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming. Tells you everything you need to know right there. Even though Sport is now its own ministry, the fact that “gaming” has to be included in the actual name of a ministry is telling. Nevada here we come (can probably lay odds on it too).

 

[Mike C]

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)

Who'd you take?

 

[LeafGrief]

Good post OP.

The league is a Ponzi Scheme being propped up by predatory advertising of gambling. They sold their souls for the almighty dollar and it's the fans who suffer as a result. Instead of highlights, we get gambling reports, instead of mediocre talking heads we get money lines (amazing they found something worse than Sportsnet panels to fill the time), and instead of hockey we get endless gambling commercials.

Rather than thinking about how to actually grow the game and attract fans, the league has decided that it will grow by attaching itself to the easiest money it can find in expansion and gambling. Gambling is probably shrinking fan interest if anything, and a new team is maybe 3% growth every couple of years. We've got guys in full body armour cannoning around the ice doing incredible tricks with the puck, precision, and insane athleticism, and somehow we can't sell that to people effectively? The easy money is every bit as addictive as the gambling itself, and the NHL has completely lost the plot in becoming about dollars instead of a functional hockey league.

Gambling will always happen and that's okay, but it belongs in the margins, not front and centre where it will devour everything in its path, including the league.

 

[Leafshater67]

Gambling is so stupid. So, so stupid. Maybe I’m just cheap but I do not get the thrill of it at all. At least if you buy drugs, you know what you’re going to get from them.

 

[ProfessorFink22]

Gambling is so stupid. So, so stupid. Maybe I’m just cheap but I do not get the thrill of it at all. At least if you buy drugs, you know what you’re going to get from them.

Ironically, you get the same dopamine hit, which is the addictive chemical that gets released for almost all addictive behaviours, even things like technology addiction.

I found this video mindset changing, and recommend it to all (especially those with children). He talks about addiction related stuff abouth the 3:45 mark.



Which also leads to another terrible downside of sports gambling, is how exposed children get to it while watching hockey growing up.

 

[Hextallent63]

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.

I agree with everything you said. Jeff Merritt got fired because they want to have the All-Star game in Vegas again too.

 

[Hextallent63]

The NHL promoting gambling gets way more people into it, and people who would have been fine without it are now having problems due to being introduced to it.

It's no different than the league endorsing smoking cigarettes and getting people addicted to them.

Exactly. I've had numerous friends and people that I know asked me and call me up to get information on what they should do for certain hockey games. Some of these people I haven't talked to in years and a few of them have legit gambling problems in our extremely affecting their lives negatively.

 

[raymond23]

We also have a trash company ad on an original six jersey

Dystopian ass world we live in

 

[Adam da bomb]

Gambling is so stupid. So, so stupid. Maybe I’m just cheap but I do not get the thrill of it at all. At least if you buy drugs, you know what you’re going to get from them.

Isn’t that the problem? That people who buy drugs don’t know what they are getting. They think they are getting something like crack only to find out it’s been mixed with fentanyl.

 

[SirJW]

Exactly. I've had numerous friends and people that I know asked me and call me up to get information on what they should do for certain hockey games. Some of these people I haven't talked to in years and a few of them have legit gambling problems in our extremely affecting their lives negatively.

Me too.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

The house always wins. ESPECIALLY, when the house is the primary sponsor of the event you're gambling on!

 

[Panteras]

bu bu but regulation “sTiFle InNoVaTiOn, let ThE FrEe MaRkEt DeCiDe”

 

[John Mandalorian]

Here’s a question for the OP and anyone else that wants to answer. Asking with no bias or agenda other than to possibly add some perspective.

Is this really that much different from alcohol? Does it only seem different because gambling advertising is relatively new and alcohol advertising has been around so long that people are used to it?

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

 

[Golden_Jet]

Here’s a question for the OP and anyone else that wants to answer. Asking with no bias or agenda other than to possible add some perspective.

Is this really that much different from alcohol? Does it only seem different because gambling advertising is relatively new and alcohol advertising has been around so long that people are used to it?

watching the game, the broadcasters, they don’t talk about alcohol being on sale,
Alcohol is not shoved down the viewers throats, it’s ruined games.

 

[FerrisRox]

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.

This is absolutely false. Broadcasters were not leaking confidential information given to them exclusively by the league for the purposes of a broadcast.

This simply didn't happen before and Marek was not fired because of the "gambling impacts" of his leaks. He was fired because of a breach of ethics and because he compromised the relationship between the league and its official broadcaster.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

League doesn't care about anything except making money. They'll sell their souls if it means more money in their pockets.

*All leagues.

 

[zenator]

I don't have a problem with gambling being legal. If it wasn't people would engage in illegal gambling anyways. 10 years ago, you could do online gambling with Bodog in England from anywhere in the world. Now, at least it is regulated, so you're not dealing with scummy bookies, just slightly less scummy companies.

I do have a big problem with it being advertised everywhere. It disgusts me seeing the ads constantly. It tempts and hooks young people, gambling addicts, etc. Gambling should be treated like cigarettes; no advertising.

It's disheartening seeing a wealthy former player like Gretzky assisting gambling companies to get teenagers into gambling by starring in their ads. As if he doesn't have enough money already. It is disgraceful, and I don't think much of him because of this. I somewhat excuse players like Matthews and McDavid for being in these ads. They are young and not worldly as they have lived in a sheltered bubble their whole lives. They enjoy betting on football, so probably think it's cool. But an old man like Gretzky should know better. Hopefully McDavid, etc. wisen up as they get older, and realize how evil gambling advertising is. Sociopaths like Gretzky will never change.

 

[Jared Dunn]

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.

I'm sure more people have tried it that wouldn't have, but actually creating committed gamblers in a way that it could be classified as a problem or an addiction even?

 

[robertmac43]

It's only going to get worse too. With all the adds kids are seeing as they grow up and how normalized it's become, I'm worried for future generations.

 

[Help]

the gambling industry is sick. that's why it is my personal responsibility to take the bookie for all that he is worth

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

It's only going to get worse too. With all the adds kids are seeing as they grow up and how normalized it's become, I'm worried for future generations.

I certainly don't limit that to gambling.

 

[cnosek6342]

Insiders don't leak information. They rely on people working for the league or NHL clubs to leak information to them and then report on it... and if those leakers are found out, their employers terminate their employment. Leakers proliferate because it's hard to prove who leakers are, in large part because the Constitution protects media sources and reporters from revealing their sources.

Here, Marek was working for the league as a broadcast partner and getting privileged information from the league for the purposes of putting on a good television product. Then he leaked it to a media pal - not the general public, but to one individual, which triggered alarm bells and got Nevada law enforcement involved. Marek got his broadcast partner and his media hats mixed up.

Gambling is a pox on the game, but that's not why Marek was fired. He got fired for being a leaker, and leaking has always had consequences if your employer finds out that you did it.

1000% - I absolutely loved Jeff Marek and all his work. I think he is a great embassador for the game and can't wait for him to land somewhere to start following him again.

He made a mistake, something that (IF TRUE) is an easy mistake to make. I think he could do a LOT of good if he were to own up to it and use it as a way to help others not make the same mistake.

THAT ALL SAID - there is something to be said about the fact that Marek hasn't said anything about what happened yet and the fact that it's all coming out this way. A suspension for these actions would make a lot more sense for a guy as well-reknown as Marek in the hockey industry. Some of the questions I still have about the situation:
Why fire him vs suspend him? Why do it so discreetly by covertly flying him out on the red-eye? Why didn't Friedman know there would be no July 1 "32-Thoughts Podcast" when he did the post-draft episode solo? Shouldn't he have known that Marek was terminated by then? Why leak things to media weeks after he was fired vs coming out and saying "we caught him doing THIS so we had to let him go"?

 

[banks]

I've heard it said before that gambling is the idiot tax, or a tax on people bad at math. That's obviously hyperbole, but I honestly agree with the sentiment.

I certainly don't mean that as an insult to people who enjoy responsible betting. You are free to spend your money on whatever you choose. But it's undeniable that most people lose money on it and get nothing in return.

The sports betting ads are now way out of control. It's insane.