NBA management is getting what it deserves. I don’t think David Stern would tolerate a culture where players are frequently losing hundreds of thousands per session in Bourré, Poker, etc…because he understood what kind of risk that creates.
The traditional media is, as expected, a failure. All the attention on stuff that tracks partisan culture wars and less on financial improprieties that actually threaten the structural integrity of the league which the gambling, like the Balmer stuff, etc.. are subparts off.
(How many deep dives have we had re who owns parts of the entities that the NBA and its stars partner with in China? I’d happily wager it would make WNBAers playing for Russian gangsters during their offseason as part of money laundering schemes blush)
Ethan notes that an athlete betting with inside information “is illegal and undermines the integrity of the game.” I agree with the second point but as for the first: is it really illegal?
That question came to me reading the allegations against Terry Rozier. The pleading is full of charges about “insider information” that is “non-public.”
But is there a legal duty to keep, say, injury information confidential prior to league announcement?
With stocks, trading based on material nonpublic information is prohibited by the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5.
Nothing like that exists for NBA information.
Yet, I ultimately do agree that insider betting feels illegal. I just am not sure why. What am I missing?
Isn’t one of the big takeaways here that it’s effectively illegal to have an edge on a book? Draft Kings somehow has the FBI enforcing its “you’re not allowed to beat us” terms of services.
In the ESPN Radio days there would've been an update every 15 minutes on this. Balco, Lance Armstrong, Doneghy, all those huge scandal stories don't resonate anymore. Many reasons why
Gambling should just be decriminalized, people can gamble, but you can't have a business that is related to gambling.
If people want to do bets it has to be person to person. The apps and companies are corrosive and basically as bad (worse?) than cigarettes. At least smokers mostly knew what they were getting.
The main gambling companies are all built on unfairness and lies.
Want to fix the individual player prop bet issue? We don't need more laws, we need fewer laws. Instead of making a law against it, either remove the restriction for players to bet on them or make it clear the feds aren't wasting their time investigating this stuff anymore. Sportsbooks will stop offering those bets immediately. Problem solved.
"I don't think people should go to jail for gambling on games. But if you are a referee or a player gambling on games you are part of I think there should be rules about that, I think that should be out of bounds"
Very sharp guest. Not surprised to hear he's libertarian.
NBA management is getting what it deserves. I don’t think David Stern would tolerate a culture where players are frequently losing hundreds of thousands per session in Bourré, Poker, etc…because he understood what kind of risk that creates.
The traditional media is, as expected, a failure. All the attention on stuff that tracks partisan culture wars and less on financial improprieties that actually threaten the structural integrity of the league which the gambling, like the Balmer stuff, etc.. are subparts off.
(How many deep dives have we had re who owns parts of the entities that the NBA and its stars partner with in China? I’d happily wager it would make WNBAers playing for Russian gangsters during their offseason as part of money laundering schemes blush)
Ethan notes that an athlete betting with inside information “is illegal and undermines the integrity of the game.” I agree with the second point but as for the first: is it really illegal?
That question came to me reading the allegations against Terry Rozier. The pleading is full of charges about “insider information” that is “non-public.”
But is there a legal duty to keep, say, injury information confidential prior to league announcement?
With stocks, trading based on material nonpublic information is prohibited by the Securities Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5.
Nothing like that exists for NBA information.
Yet, I ultimately do agree that insider betting feels illegal. I just am not sure why. What am I missing?
Isn’t one of the big takeaways here that it’s effectively illegal to have an edge on a book? Draft Kings somehow has the FBI enforcing its “you’re not allowed to beat us” terms of services.
In the ESPN Radio days there would've been an update every 15 minutes on this. Balco, Lance Armstrong, Doneghy, all those huge scandal stories don't resonate anymore. Many reasons why
Gambling should just be decriminalized, people can gamble, but you can't have a business that is related to gambling.
If people want to do bets it has to be person to person. The apps and companies are corrosive and basically as bad (worse?) than cigarettes. At least smokers mostly knew what they were getting.
The main gambling companies are all built on unfairness and lies.
Want to fix the individual player prop bet issue? We don't need more laws, we need fewer laws. Instead of making a law against it, either remove the restriction for players to bet on them or make it clear the feds aren't wasting their time investigating this stuff anymore. Sportsbooks will stop offering those bets immediately. Problem solved.
Kmele loves LeBron? Gross. Unsure about never fly coach subscription now lol
Never needed you more
"I don't think people should go to jail for gambling on games. But if you are a referee or a player gambling on games you are part of I think there should be rules about that, I think that should be out of bounds"
Very sharp guest. Not surprised to hear he's libertarian.
Dispatch from La Cosa Nostra to Ethan: there's a movie, it's called Molly's Game.