"D.C. United and Caesars Entertainment are deep in negotiations about opening a sportsbook at Audi Field next year, a proposal that would trigger a race among Washington pro teams to begin attracting gamblers to their respective venues. The talks also involve a sponsorship pact in which the gaming company’s logo would appear on the sleeve of the MLS team’s jersey, starting next season." https://wapo.st/2rqgcC6 Ugh.
I know it's a big change, but did you really expect United would sit on the sidelines while Monumental and the Lerners ponder opening up their own on site sportsbooks?
You want to know what's wrong with our waterfront? It's the love of a lousy buck. It's making the love of the lousy buck - the sportsbook - more important than the love of soccer!
I didn't expect anything at all. I have just consistently hoped that there'd be something of the past for me to hang onto.
This is America. We have a grifter President, why not sports book everywhere? This is what we are. Remember when the movie "Rollerball" seemed like fiction? We'll have such a league within the decade. If you want to see the "real America" go to the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa on a Tuesday night. You will want to put your head in an oven afterwards. We are beyond ********ed.
At some point in my lifetime, we just determined that profit is the main goal of capitalism. In ye olden days, church groups would rally the politicians against the gambling or the casinos or the big mean rich people... but not anymore. The natinoal religion is consumerism.
I wouldn't be as bothered by this if I saw the club making aggressive moves that made me feel like championships are as important as profits. Not feeling that at all.
What if DCU's cut allowed them to bring in better players? Gambling in sports has been going on forever. It's just in the light as a more legitimate business now. I love good food. Is it any different for me to spend $200 for my wife and I to eat a nice meal vs. someone else betting? They both turn to sh*t eventually.
everything turns to &$%@ eventually but back on topic - its another revenue stream - this is a sports/entertainment franchise in a league of sports/entertainment franchises competing against three juggernaut sports/entertainment leagues
Absolutely. I'm not saying anything at all about whether it's a sensible move, business-wise. It may make perfect sense, and it may work out for them as a big return on their investment. I'm simply lamenting another sign that the DC United I fell in love with is gone.
It just make the whole place more family friendly. "No Timmy you can't go in their. That's where Dad bets against DC United."
You're assuming that ownership would spend that money as opposed to pocketing it. I have no particular aversion to a sportsbook. It's not really my thing, but I accept that its part of the commercial sports landscape in 2020 and beyond. It's almost nice to imagine that they'll be able to let out some of that retail space along the side of the stadium.