Sports gambling is somewhat taboo (unless you're the NFL, for some reason), but every state pretty much has its own casino, and there are many athletes who've gotten in trouble financially because of casino gambling. If MLS players had similar gambling problems, I'm sure they could be gotten to, as well. A lot of athletes enjoy the rush of gambling because it has a similar effect to the rush of playing the actual game. Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley are admittedly HUGE gamblers for this very reason. I think if we find MLS players who have problems with gambling, I'm sure the possibility of a fixed match could grow within MLS. I hope that it doesn't happen, though, but I'm not sure if the wave coming in this direction can be stopped.
Hopefully that keeps up, or if there is a small mention of a match fixing problem MLS does the equivalent of nuking it from orbit. It is the only way to be sure after all... MLS also needs to make it very clear to the I/Os that match fixing is unacceptable and that there will be major consequences if anyone on their teams are caught doing it.
I hear what you're saying--but I'm still not convinced sports gambling is so foreign to the American mindset. I don't think I've ever worked in an office that didn't have a March Madness pool in it, for instance. Plus I just went to a Super Bowl party where people were betting on the color of Beyonce's dress. (Red lost).
Match fixing usually doesn't have anything to do with how gambling is perceived in the country where the game is played. It relies on the ability of dishonest bookmakers to change the outcome of a match that they're taking bets on. Since the advent of the internet and satellite TV, bookmakers can give odds on pretty much any game taking place anywhere in the world. And so the possibility of match fixing arises where there are players who can be bribed and/or where the fix won't be noticed -- not necessarily where gambling is commonplace or more accepted among the general population or among players. So smaller leagues in lesser soccer nations where wages are low are typical targets. MLS, if it has escaped match fixing, probably does so because our players are fairly well-paid, or at least paid reliably. I wouldn't be surprised, though, to learn that it has happened here.
Matches aren't fixed by bookmakers. Matches are fixed by parties who are trying to turn a profit at the expense of bookmakers. Today's version of match fixing isn't what most people think it is. It's illegally profiting off of the result through means of bribery of players, management, and officials. Like I said in the OP, this isn't about one team trying to gain promotion and asking an opponent to do them a favor by laying down. This is systematic bribery to gain certain results which are then wagered on and won. Also, there's a known connection between gambler athletes who carry significant gambling debts and match fixing. It makes no difference that you can't wager on sports in America. If a guy is in the hole for $20,000 and someone offers to get him out of that hole by fixing a match, I'm sure that he'll at least listen to the offer, and that's regardless of what league he plays in.
I think we're arguing more or less the same thing. My point was that players don't have to have gambling problems to recognize a strong financial incentive -- as long as the bribe is significantly higher than a player's income/wealth (factoring in debt), he'll at least listen to the offer. Basically, I think it's a mistake to waive off questions about match fixing in the US just because American players tend to gamble less than others.
I think the bribe doesn't really need to be significant at all if the player simply isn't thinking about it. I mean, if a player is making $50,000 a year, and someone offers him $100 to immediately boot the ball out of bounds so that the other team will get the first throw-in, the player may see that as no harm-no foul, and just take the money. Unfortunately, that's usually where match fixing begins. One of the things that MLS needs to do is educate its players about match fixing, where it begins, and how to prevent a potential fix. The first step is eliminating asking players to do little things in exchange for small amounts of cash. While it may seem harmless, players are then in the fixers pockets, and they can never get out. It's one reason why things have gotten so out of control.
Yeah but how many of those would call a bookie to place a bet on the game? Chances are a very small percentage of folks who participate in office pools actually have any thought to gambling on sports outside of a large communal event. It is still a little taboo. And it just isn't the same as other countries where culturally, placing a wager occurs right after you pick up the milk on your way home. I am not saying match fixing couldn't happen, simply there are "lower hanging fruit" areas in the world in terms of convincing an athlete to participate.
A huge factor being ignored is how much is bet on MLS games. A large pool of bettors to mask the 'fixed' money.
There have been fixed games in World Cup qualifying and fixed games in the Canadian Soccer League. I'm guessing the handle on your average MLS match is somewhere in between those two.
Wow that's hard to believe. Does this commission have any details on their methodlogy. It's just not sitting right in my head that this many low level games got players or refs to 'fix' a match.
It's so much easier than you think. You only need 3 players to fix a match, and they're all spine players: striker, central defender, and goalkeeper. It also helps that one of these players is the captain. The striker can keep his team from scoring. The central defender can obscure offside traps by playing too far back in a high line allowing the attackers to slip through unabated. The goalkeeper can let in easy goals. In a majority of cases, the contact person is the captain of the team, and he recruits his teammates to help him achieve this goal by showing them the money that can be made. Most athletes aren't all that bright and are pretty naive, so they see the money and get sucked in easily. It's even easier when the pay is low/non-existent for teams and players because then they can recoup the money they weren't getting from their clubs. It's also painted as somewhat harmless. I mean, who are you really hurting here? The fans? One side will win, one side will lose. Also, it's done by top vs bottom teams. "You're going to lose anyway, so why not make a couple thousand bucks? We're just looking for a 2-goal victory, that's all. If you can do that, we'll both get rich. If you place bets on it, you can get rich, too. Plus, it's only one time. Who's going to notice?" You'd be surprised how remarkably easy it is to fix any game. If you haven't, I recommend reading "The Fix" by Declan Hill. It goes into great detail about how to fix, when to fix, and why fixes happen. Great book.
While there haven't been allegations regarding attempts to fix MLS matches, there have been incidents regarding matches involving MLS teams and the USMNT. Arabe Unido was approached before their infamous CCL match against RSL a few years ago, maybe the gamblers ended up placing a bet on the amount of injury time. The US won a nothing friendly against El Salvador a couple years ago with Kljestan pouncing on a defensive blunder to score the winner in injury time; it's been confirmed that Wilson Raj Perumal sent one of his associates to Tampa to bribe Salvadoran players before the match. Given the amount of match-fixing activity that's gone on in Central America, it seems likely that other CCL matches and maybe NT matches involving MLS/US teams have been compromised as well.
gambling problems it was always a problem for the sport.in general.it wont disappear ,at best you can reduce it.A solution would be ban soccer from legal gambling,but the State wont do it,because it has a share from this industry, which can finance different public investments.Also,banning soccer from legal betting,would increase the number of bets on the black market.
It's not, but the euro betting houses take it to a whole other level. An example would be when I was watching MLS games through a stream and we had a guy from Scotland watching who asking who and what he should be online-betting on, said that he couldn't get into a game in general as much unless he had a (small) stake in it. The attitude espoused in that last statement is what I'm talking about when I was posting that there are teams and leagues. It's not that the betting houses fix games, I'm sure that bwin. and bet365 and whatever don't do that kind of thing, it's that sports gambling has been so ingrained into the gameday experience over there that these betting houses are free to brazenly sponsor what they do with only occasional grumbling from fans, and thus with that kind of attitude a possible vulnerability to be swayed by fixers from players and officials. It's the kind of thing that makes OTB look like a bush league operation.
Knowing the Italian league personally as I worked with Fiorentina, I know for a fact that a lot of games/ players had a hand in betting but a lot of cases were really never proven. A lot of telephone conversations were taped and used in court against the players but I'm not sure all the things they do in Italy are all that legal state side but I've never heard of a taped conversation in any American sports leagues. To think that none of this stuff happens here in America or in Canada however, is pretty naive. Maybe there are privacy laws protecting against these sorts of things or maybe no one ever reports them or maybe not enough people care about the league and its been proven through the years. The favoritism of some teams over others not to mention the Peter Nowak incidents in Phlly or for that matter the LAndy from Germany to LA deal just to name a few off the top of my head were/are far from innocent.
So you're saying that MLS games have been fixed by players to achieve a certain result/scoreline for the benefit of fixers who have bribed them? That's what I'm looking for. If this has happened in MLS, then the league, and pretty much the whole sport, is dead to me.
I don't know as I've never read or heard about anything like match fixing in MLS. I do know you have the same owners owning multiple franchises (especially since the leagues inception) and this doesn't happen anywhere else in the world. My point is, if that is the case, I don't see how you couldn't have a direct conflict of interest. I mean when you have one owner own 5 teams, how can this be fair and legal and how can there not be any wrong doing? I'm sure the phenomenon exists.
There have been recent busts of betting rings, and point shaving, set up for peewee football games. You can be sure that everything is affected to some degree.
Lol that espn segment was hilarious...a pop warner league in south florida. I think in that particular case you can say it was concentrated in that league. As for the single entity factor being suspicious I can understand your thinking. But doesn't that whole single entity factor just seem like an extremely easy way to get caught? I think the owners and the league would be playing with fire if fixing was going on from the top. If that were ever to be found the league would be DOA.
Incorrect. Multiple teams in Mexico have the same owners. Grupo Televisa owns America and Necaxa. Grupo Salinas (TV Azteca) owns Chiapas and Morelia. Grupo Carso owns Pachuca and Leon.
Roma coach pulling the GK for the backup and then losing 4-2 to Cagliari on some suspicious goals this past weekend. I think using Italy as an example is a little much. Serie A and B are a joke at this point in my book. You never know if any game is played out for real.