The NHL embracing sports gambling was a major mistake

[Empoleon8771]

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.

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[SEALBound]

Who would have ever thought degeneracy would lead to degenerate behavior?

 

[AvroArrow]

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

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

The more concerning thing to me, despite all the gambling adds, logos on jerseys, new tv contract, expansion teams, and massive inflation going on, the salary cap isn’t making any sort of massive jump that you’d expect.

 

[DJB]

The biggest issue is the hypocrisy of the NHL and gambling.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

 

[izlez]

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.

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

 

[Rich Nixon]

Good thread and 100% agreed. And in addition to the horrible mindsets it encourages, it also just makes fans f***ing stupider. So much broadcast time that was once devoted to play analysis is now wasted on parlays and money lines. I literally learned how to play this sport by watching it and having commentators break down the good and bad decisions players make on ice that lead to goals. So much of that analysis is gone and the game is reduced to a series of statistical landmarks. I can't imagine what a disservice that is to kids today coming up and trying to learn how to intelligently watch and approach the game.

 

[Empoleon8771]

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

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.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

I took a stab at sports gambling for about 6 weeks earlier this year. It sucks. And being bombarded with ads for it is annoying as hell.

 

[izlez]

Good thread and 100% agreed. And in addition to the horrible mindsets it encourages, it also just makes fans f***ing stupider. So much broadcast time that was once devoted to play analysis is now wasted on parlays and money lines. I literally learned how to play this sport by watching it and having commentators break down the good and bad decisions players make on ice that lead to goals. So much of that analysis is gone and the game is reduced to a series of statistical landmarks. I can't imagine what a disservice that is to kids today coming up and trying to learn how to intelligently watch and approach the game.

Gambling/Fantasy sports shows talk WAY more about the X's and O's, strategy, and performance of the games themselves than shows like Sportscenter that have just been gossip and sob stories for at least the last 15 years.

 

[Oleksiak]

The gambling companies may be the ones that finally force the NHL to stop fixing games under threat of a lawsuit.

 

[SomeDude]

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.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Gambling/Fantasy sports shows talk WAY more about the X's and O's, strategy, and performance of the games themselves than shows like Sportscenter that have just been gossip and sob stories for at least the last 15 years.

Not in any productive way, and I'm not talking about those. I'm talking about the game itself: Breakdowns between plays and during intermission are dramatically reduced in favor of "Let's look at the live odds presented by FanDuel. We have McDavid at +150 for over 1.5 points tonight..."

Also I'm talking about like, welcoming kids into the game and getting them immersed into how it flows, how to read plays. I'm not gonna stick my daughter in front of a f***ing regional sports network fantasy sports hour with Flopsweat Larry and Dan "the Shark" Dumbasski or some shit like that. Might as well give her some lead paint to chew on.

 

[Jared Dunn]

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.

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

Not in any productive way, and I'm not talking about those. I'm talking about the game itself: Breakdowns between plays and during intermission are dramatically reduced in favor of "Let's look at the live odds presented by FanDuel. We have McDavid at +150 for over 1.5 points tonight..."

Also I'm talking about like, welcoming kids into the game and getting them immersed into how it flows, how to read plays. I'm not gonna stick my daughter in front of a f***ing regional sports network fantasy sports hour for that, come on. Might as well give her some lead paint to chew on.

This element is definitely out of control, fully agree with that

 

[Drake1588]

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.

 

[TheDoldrums]

The Marek gambling angle is being completely overblown. Most markets are closed well before the draft actually starts. No one is going to be offering "who will be the 5th pick" while the 4th pick is happening, presumably when Marek would've got his info. And if any offshore was doing it that recklessly, the limits would be incredibly tiny and no real money would be made.

The other moral pontification could basically be applied to alcohol as well, I prefer a more free society that allows people to make their own choices and live with the consequences but there will always be those who advocate for prohibition.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

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

 

[Nogatco Rd]

I feel bad for people who ruin their lives with their addiction, or families that are destroyed by compulsive gambling

I don’t really have any sympathy for players or reporters who know the rules and decide to break them anyway, and then have to face the consequences.

 

[NVious]

Society in general has dropped all facades of morality, it's every person for themselves at this point. This is just one aspect of it, you can see the majority of companies raising prices astronomically in the last 5 years as another one.

 

[HarryLime]

Nhl will follow suit of all major sports leagues.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Society in general has dropped all facades of morality, it's every person for themselves at this point. This is just one aspect of it, you can see the majority of companies raising prices astronomically in the last 5 years as another one.

Real

 

[Empoleon8771]

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.

I have the same thought regarding sports gambling as what I have with cigarettes. I don't think cigarettes and tobacco should be banned, but I greatly look down on companies who would promote cigarettes and tobacco based on marketing deals. All of these organizations are just about money, but I think it's still valid to criticize them for promoting this stuff.

You can't ban sports gambling to idiot proof the world, but I still think the NHL embracing and promoting sports gambling like it has is pretty repulsive behavior. I don't expect any different from any of these leagues/organizations who are just out for money, but I still think it's fair to criticize the organizations for supporting it.

 

[12ozPapa]

I’m fine with the gambling but for the NHL to blatantly push it every chance they get is dumb and annoying. Then they suspend a player for doing what they encourage, etc.

Just a joke of a league, as always, and why hockey will always be a bush league sport compared to others.

 

[Golden_Jet]

It’s ruined broadcasts of the game.