Monday, August 24, 2009

Rolling the dice on sports gambling

I have always been of the opinion that we could wipe out the national deficit in just a couple of Sundays.

And how would I pull off that bit of fiscal fancy?

Easy. Legalize betting on NFL games.

The state of Delaware is about to put that notion to the test.

Much to the chagrin of the four major league sports, Delaware is planning to go forward with a plan for a sports betting lottery.

But the pros are not going down without a fight.

The four leagues will be in a federal courtroom today in Philadelphia asking a judge to halt the plan, which is set to go into effect in just a couple of weeks when the NFL kicks off its season.

Delaware is one of just four states that are exempt from a federal ban on sports betting because it once ran a sports lottery in 1976.

The pro leagues will argue that the integrity of their sports are at risk.

I am assuming they will do that with a straight face.

Millions of dollars change hands on literally every pro sporting event.
Pool slips are a staple of many offices. The corner bookie has been a fixture in most neighborhoods for years. The betting “line” has been a fixture of newspaper sports pages for as long as I’ve been in this crazy business.

I know a lot of guys who simply can’t enjoy sitting and watching a game without a little “action” on it.

That “action” is about to go legitimate, if Delaware gets its way.

This is all part of the increasingly high stakes world of legalized gambling.

First it was Delaware with slots parlors. Pennsylvania got tired of watching all that money bleed from just about every border and decided to get into the slots pool itself.

Now Pa. is very likely to add table games to the mix.

Delaware now is countering with sports gambling.

Sundays in the fall will never be the same.

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