The Decider: Does Golf Need Gambling To Compete With NFL?
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 21, 2009 1:51 PM EDT
12 comments
One of the best parts of watching the NFL is fantasy sports. It is the closest thing that those of us outside of Las Vegas can do to legally bet the outcome of sports. Many leagues have modest to serious amounts of money riding on the outcome of the league.
Even for those of us degenerates out there, the league publishes and reports around the betting line on games. Scott Van Pelt is notorious for his love of the line and the over/under bet. Admittedly, placing your own money on the line against the outcome of a game makes it more exciting and interesting. Though every pro league cannot come out and endorse sports betting, the NFL probably comes to closest to both acknowledging that it happens and promoting it.
In the United States, golf isn't even close. I mean, I check the lines before major championships to see who the oddsmakers favor, but most Americans see betting on golf like finding a needle in a haystack. Yeah, you might be right sometime, but more rare than often. In betting on team sports, there's a 50/50 chance that you're right. Not in golf.
Despite that, golf betting is pretty prominent in the United Kingdom. One of the stock stories that any journo would tell you about covering the Open is going to a Ladbrokes to place a wager on the championship. It's something that can't be done easily here, but is over the Pond and is actively encouraged.
Effectively, being able to bet on a golfer is like betting on a pony. Most bettors don't know much about the ponies, but the financial implication of the race on some unknown horse gives the race some entertainment value. Betting on golfers would seem to have the same effect and could insert some additional interest into a sport that is hurt because it lacks a geographic tie to it. Short of the Ryder or Presidents Cups, golf often lacks a nationalistic appeal - except at the Open Championship or when critics disparage Asian golfers for crushing the LPGA Tour.
So, why not be ok with betting on golf? What can the PGA Tour do about it? The point was raised by Michael Bamberger that golf lacks fall momentum not only because our national pastime and our real national pastime are ongoing, but because our real national pastime promotes various forms of gambling. In other words, golf has two major things against it compared to football: the popularity of the sport and the familiarity of fans in playing fantasy sports or betting on golf.
My question to you, then, is twofold for this week's Decider. What brings you to watch professional football? And, can applying some of that draw to golf make you more interested in watching golf?
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There is already betting available for golf – it doesn’t do enough business in Vegas to be more than a “while we’re here” kind of wager. Ladbrokes does a pretty fair business with their golf wagering – but they are still dwarfed by soccer and cricket.
Here’s the problem – it’s not like Vegas wants to set up a system where you can pick four guys from the field and play a Nassau among those guys. And the weeks they do turn around a fair number of wagers – the majors – most of the bets are Tiger or “The Field” with small numbers of people willing to pick someone other than Tiger.
Seriously – would you have picked any of the major winners this year ?
Golf wagering is a blast – but it’s most fun when you’re doing the playing – not betting on a professional tournament where you have to pick a winner out of 144 players starting on Thursday.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Sep 21, 2009 2:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I was thinking about this some when I thought about the Pres Cup. If golf had interesting ways to bet on who was playing, I’d bet on a 36 handicapper much less a pro. I mean, it could be put in terms so simple that anyone could get it.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 21, 2009 2:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Are you going to fly to Vegas or Atlantic City to place your bets ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Sep 21, 2009 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Stick to Vegas
There’s no sports betting in Atlantic City which absolutely makes me laugh. They’re carrying money around that place in dump trucks and I can’t put a few bucks on football while I’m there? What a joke.
On the larger issue, I think pervasive betting on golf would be a bad idea for the integrity of the game. With a team sport, things like points shaving schemes are fairly rare, but with an individual sport, how tempting would it be for a player to bet against himself to make a big payday off the course? I suppose it’s possible for players to bet for/against themselves now.
I’m not saying betting on golf shouldn’t be allowed, I’m just saying that if it grew to NFL-like proportions, we might not like the things we discover about the game at the pro level. Even if players bet on themselves. There are already some notable accusations/instances of cheating over the years with just prize money on the line. What if there were huge wagers on the line too?
Even though it’s possible for players to bet for/against themselves now, there’s no one waving a few million bucks in someone’s face to throw a tournament late on Sunday (I hope) because it’s just not that pervasive or lucrative.
by Double Eagle on Sep 21, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
eeyyyyy – yoooo – careful wit da "dump truck’ references, my friend. I would hate to have Vito or Mario accidentally drop a few tons of debris on top of youse car while you sleep.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Sep 21, 2009 2:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
You’d have to go down the Turnpike to Delaware to do any sports wagering on the East Coast: they recently reinstated it to much consternation among the major sporting organizations. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 makes it illegal under Federal law to operate a “betting, gambling or wagering scheme” except in those states that allowed it prior to its passage: Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon. The last two don’t have sports wagering at present.
Kevin
by IceCat on Sep 21, 2009 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, but...
…even in Delaware, I think they only allow certain forms of sports betting like parlays and stuff, not like the free for all that you find in Las Vegas.
by Double Eagle on Sep 21, 2009 8:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, you can only do parlays in Delaware. Basically, it’s in states that had some kind of “sports lottery” prior to 1992. It’s so dumb.
Email me any comments or questions at ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com.
by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 21, 2009 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ryan's Original Questions
Other than the now defunct office “suicide pool,” I don’t bet on football. I like watching it for its own sake. The same with golf. Other than a couple of months early on, I haven’t done very well with the WR fantasy golf. I’d rather invest my meager disposable income on green fees. Gambling is for chumps those who can afford to lose.
Truth has a well-known liberal bias.
by dianemarie on Sep 21, 2009 3:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
CG – I’ll bet (!) that you’re mighty peeved that I popped down the local high street and put £10 on Stewart Cink at 150:1 to win The Open then – pity I made it “each way” tho’.
RB: The only sports event which I think gains by betting is horse racing, specifically The Grand National, our biggest horse race. I bet on it, as does half the nation over here. Practically every business department will have a sweepstake too. Then there are all those jokes about the “housewife’s favourite” (jockey or sweetly named horse). DM is right that millions are bet and lost on it, but the vast majority of bets are tiny, as little as £1.
Betting certainly adds to numbers watching this horse race, but it doesn’t appear to influence the number of people watching golf tournaments on TV or attending them, ditto football.
by WendyUK on Sep 22, 2009 1:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Really ? A tenner at 150 to 1 ? SWEET !! What does “each way” mean ? I’m not the biggest gambler on the block. (I nearly gave a broadcasting buddy $20 to bet on The Open – $10 on Tiger Woods and $10 on Tom Watson. I was disappointed when he didn’t win – but imagine how disappointed I would have been if he had won and I didn’t get a bet down !) :-)
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Sep 22, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
“Each way” means that one also gets a payout for 2nd or 3rd place, but it felt like not having the courage of my convictions (OK, hopes) for not going for a straight win. If my bet was emotional rather than calculated , your bet on Tom Watson would have been totally insane. I cannot find what the odds on him were before the tournament , (probably 250:1) but just to ensure your cup filleth over, imagine what you would have won if you had also placed an “each way” bet on him! VERY SWEET!!
by WendyUK on Sep 23, 2009 2:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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