Wait, you mean to say you actually found out when and where a game was being played, before the final whistle?
Sometimes possible. Going to a game may be the only way to know if it was actually played. I am never sure with all of the 3:0 results which could be forfeits.
The idea that gambling - while obviously a real and powerful thing - is THE reason the NFL is so big is as silly as saying it's because every game is meaningful. That's not "the real reason." The NFL combines violence, tribalism, history, nostalgia, TV-friendliness and mythology unlike any other sports entity in this country. Gambling is a facet of its success, but only a facet. There has to be interest in something for big money to be wagered on it. Betting does not drive that interest.
I agree absolutely with most of this post. Gambling is only one of many factors in the rise of the NFL. I have a problem, however, with the idea that "there has to be interest in something for big money to be wagered on it." Look at the Intertoto, the summer pro soccer tournament that flourished for decades in Europe. It existed only to give people something to bet on during the off season. People who bet on things like which team will have the first throw-in of the game aren't really interested in throw-ins. They're interested in gambling.
Soccer...Europe....you answered your own question. For years, there were people who said that if you really wanted indoor soccer (our version of indoor) to take off, you should let people gamble on it. But no one gives a rat's ass about indoor intrinsically, so there's no real money to be made there, no system to be gamed, and no incentive for even inveterate gamblers to put money on it when they can understand basketball or hockey so much better. If someone was really just a prop bet away from losing their house, they could bet on any number of things every hour of every day, and soccer games are not played every hour of every day. They choose what to gamble on. And they usually choose sports they understand, have an interest in, and whose bet-able components are familiar to them.
Maybe so. You have a more charitable view of the gambling industry than I do. I'm remembering when Off-Track Betting was introduced in New York in the early 1970s. I was living in Brooklyn at the time. When the proponents got it approved by the state legislature, one of their main arguments was that it wouldn't create new gamblers, but would simply be an outlet for the gamblers who already existed. Within a year, they were putting advertisements in the subways and elsewhere saying: "Your horse doesn't have to finish first for you to win. It can finish second (place) or third (show) and you can still win." This is about as basic a fact about horse race betting as there is, but OTB, after saying they wouldn't create new gamblers, didn't waste much time in trying to attract customers who didn't already know this simple fact. I think that getting people to bet on things that they don't understand is part of the foundation that the gambling industry's profits are built on.
Wasn't the loss of sanctioning of the CSL (the old one) tied to gambling? It certainly wasn't connected to the popularity of the league.
For years, there were people who said that if you really wanted indoor soccer (our version of indoor) to take off, you should let people gamble on it. What, you mean you can't walk into a casino in Vegas and say, "I've got five grand on Sonora to beat Turlock on Sunday?" I'm remembering when Off-Track Betting was introduced in New York in the early 1970s. There's one of those in my town. It may be the most depressing place I've even been in.
English bookie shops used to be depressing but they've modernized them over the last few years. Personally I don't have any problem with gambling being legal. I had our neighbor (ex-Liverpool player Larry Lloyd) put my first bet on a horse when I was about 10 years-old. I guess it's illegal in the US because of the mob connections but if the huge British gambling companies expanded to the US it would negate the influence. Ladbrokes reported a 1.83 million pound gross profit last year.
hold onto your hats: Philadelphia Fury @PhillyFuryASL 13m13 minutes ago Big news coming out of ASL soon watch this space #GameChanger
I can barely even hear them talking. But he's talking about having 32 teams? And he's going to get them by waiving the expansion fees? Is it even possible to have lower standards than they have now?
That's not important right now. What's important is the pro-rel which will create so much interest and excitement that ASL will become the most successful league in North America.
at which point the Philly Fury will invite the German National team across the pond for a series of exhibition games played at every high school located within 15 miles of downtown...
I wonder if Driver is going to skip out on his own league and have the Atoms join NISA D3 league. That would be such a Driver thing to do.