Im pretty sure Im in the minority on this board but its my opinion

[Roy Firestone]

I realize it's not exactly the same thing, but in EVERY baseball telecast, including nearly every Oriole commercial break.... there are not just ads for Draft Kings, a betting site...there are IN GAME references to odds and various gambling "chances"...

Which, to me, makes the entire Pete Rose saga and ban, seem weak and hypocritical.

Again, it's not exactly the same thing, but MLB speaks out of both sides of their mouth. And I dont care if Rose ever gets in the HOF. He broke baseballs cardinal sin.

On one hand, baseball frowns on against gambling as a threat to the sport, and on the other they gladly take the money from gambling sites as sponsors of their telecasts and the league.

I find it so pathetically hollow and contradictory.

[Ridgway22]

16 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

I realize it's not exactly the same thing, but in EVERY baseball telecast, including nearly every Oriole commercial break.... there are not just ads for Draft Kings, a betting site...there are IN GAME references to odds and various gambling "chances"...

Which, to me, makes the entire Pete Rose saga and ban, seem weak and hypocritical.

Again, it's not exactly the same thing, but MLB speaks out of both sides of their mouth. And I dont care if Rose ever gets in the HOF. He broke baseballs cardinal sin.

On one hand, baseball frowns on against gambling as a threat to the sport, and on the other they gladly take the money from gambling sites as sponsors of their telecasts and the league.

I find it so pathetically hollow and contradictory.

Could not agree with this more. Such a gross money grab that reveals how shallow the soul of MLB actually is. Anyone who has ever walked into a minor league or major league clubhouse has seen the sign. I get casual fans all the time saying Rose should be let into the Hall because he only bet on his team to win. But, what happens when Rose gets deep into debt, and the bad actors offer to wipe his slate clean if only he'll throw one game, maybe a playoff game? Or what happens if he needs to win a game he bet on, desperately, and lets a hot-shot rookie pitcher stay out there too long and blows out his arm? No, gambling in baseball can do no good, and can only do harm. If anyone doubts, go back and read the sports pages in 1920-1922 about the Black Sox scandal.

[Aristotelian]

A cynic would say that the purpose of protecting the integrity of the game is to protect the integrity of betting on the game. 

[Gurgi]

I have been of this opinion since they teamed up with these betting sites.  It is amazingly bad decision making.  

 

Probably a matter of time before some scandal gets revealed.  

[deward]

53 minutes ago, Gurgi said:

I have been of this opinion since they teamed up with these betting sites.  It is amazingly bad decision making.  

 

Probably a matter of time before some scandal gets revealed.  

MLB has clearly decided that this is a critical revenue stream for their long-term survival, so they aren't going to let any ethical concerns stand in the way. 

I think you're right, it's just a matter of time before a current player or coach gets caught betting on a game (just like Calvin Ridley in the NFL).

[EddeeEddee]

Things are becoming treacherous for MLB as Bally Sports flirts with likely bankruptcy.  The league has long been scrounging for additional revenue, partly from gambling, but they were likely caught off guard the traditional RSN cable TV model looks to be so quickly in decline.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/sports/regional-sports-networks-bankruptcy.html

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-one-floundering-company-might-change-the-economics-of-baseball-forever/

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/35864012/rsns-diamond-sports-group-bankruptcy-bally-blackouts-mlb-tv

 

 

[emmett16]

It’s a travesty it’s promoted so carelessly.  It’s awful that they are targeting young kids with these “fake money” sites to create a habit to exploit.  Pretty rotten if you ask me.  I think you are actually in the majority if I had to guess (on this site).  

Edited April 20, 2023 by emmett16

[Chelsea_Phil]

And I hate the ‘I love the USA’  Tik Tok commercial that is constantly showing.  Hypocritical!

[InsideCoroner]

One of my best friends growing up was addicted to gambling, there wasn’t a day going by that he didn’t have about six bets going at once. I think we were all of 18, and you would try to hang out with him but you could tell he couldn’t fully focus until he knew if the Mets would hold that lead in the 9th and whether Ohio Stare would cover the spread. And this was in the pre-Internet days with a bookie over the phone and ESPN updates, I can’t imagine how bad that would have been if he had easier access. 

It felt inevitable that pro sports would get in bed with the gambling sites but I wish they had kept them all at arms’ length rather than adding sports books to stadiums and including on-screen odds. I find the whole thing distasteful.

Edited April 20, 2023 by InsideCoroner

[Chelsea_Phil]

Agreed. I used to think that England allowing betting on just about everything was so horrible. But now we’re just the same.  Truly pathetic

Edited April 20, 2023 by Chelsea_Phil

[sportsfan8703]

Alcohol is far more dangerous and addictive. 

[PeteCanes]

2 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Alcohol is far more dangerous and addictive. 

Is it?

[Moose Milligan]

13 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Alcohol is far more dangerous and addictive. 

We weren’t talking about alcohol though. 

[pdiddy]

10 minutes ago, PeteCanes said:

Is it?

Probably not - like almost everything it’s dependent on the person, but as it’s 4/20 I’m sure you’ll see lots of favorable comparisons of things to alcohol today. 
 

The execution of the in game ads is what’s really off putting to me. Just say it’s brought to you by Brand X. Showing the parlay sucker bet of the day that most announcers can’t explain and urging viewers to download the app and lose money too is pretty gross. Same with win probabilities and broad brushing “the analytics” (William Blake. Who? William BLAKE! What do you mean William Blake?!) - predictive analysis isn’t easy and of course depends on the quality of the data and quality of analysis. That’s never explained.

[sportsfan8703]

18 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

We weren’t talking about alcohol though. 

Yes, and I’m not trying to argue, but if you’re going to complain about gambling then you should complain about alcohol that is much more destructive, and just as heavily advertised during baseball. Roy’s post more so hit on the ethics of it during a game, but the other posts were talking about the overall “bad” things about gambling. 

Gambling doesn’t impair your ability to drive home from the park. Therefore, I don’t think bringing up alcohol is a false equivalency. Gambling and alcohol are the two most advertised things now during games.