The history, present, and future of gambling and sports
A recent investigative report alleges widespread match fixing in high-level professional tennis. These serious allegations again raise serious concerns relating to sports gambling.
The dangers of sports gambling and its potential to corrupt the competitive process is not new. In 1919, eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of being paid to lose the World Series. They were charged but never convicted. Instead, they were banned from baseball. One of these players, Joe Jackson, was considered one of the best players of his era, and because of the ban has never been eligible for the baseball hall of fame.
About sixty years later, another gambling scandal emerged in major league baseball. Pete Rose, one of the best hitters the league had ever seen, was revealed to be a gambling addict. While he was playing and managing the Cincinnati Reds, he bet on baseball games, including games involving the Reds. He claims that he never bet against the Reds and there has never been any allegation that he intentionally caused the team to lose any games for gambling purposes. However, because of the danger of players benefitting financially from manipulating results, any gambling on the sport is strictly forbidden. Rose was banned for life from the game and in spite of recent efforts to allow for his reinstatement, he is still banned and not eligible for the hall of fame.
It might seem that the danger of players gambling on sports is reduced in the era of multimillionaire athletes. Why would an athlete risk their reputation and future earning potential by allowing themselves to be compromised by gamblers attempting to manipulate results? Perhaps the reason to continue to fear this potential is the proliferation of high stakes international gambling. Sports gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry with a range of participants. Large corporate entities control large portions of the industry but there remain disreputable and often illegal entities, often with ties to organized crime, with heavy involvement. If one such disreputable entity stood to profit on a larger scale than the extent to which the athletes stand to profit, it is entirely conceivable that that entity could convince an athlete to manipulate results.
The less an athlete is paid, the more susceptible they may be; however, even well-compensated athletes may become embroiled in such a scheme if they fall into debt to disreputable entities.
For several years, investigations have focused on match fixing in professional soccer. The immense interest in soccer has resulted in a high availability of international gambling on events. Low-level matches from around the world can easily be gambled upon anywhere. Results in small, unknown leagues are easily and routinely manipulated. It is widely understood that in some leagues, next to none of the results are legitimate.
However, in soccer, and now in tennis, the match fixing appears to not be limited to such obscure, relatively unimportant matches. Investigative journalists allege that at least one match at the most recent world cup of soccer was fixed. The most recent investigative report indicates that sixteen of the top fifty players in the tennis world rankings have been involved in matches that were likely fixed. Novak Djokovic, currently the top ranked male tennis player in the world, claims that in 2007 he was offered two hundred thousand dollars to throw a match. Andy Murray, currently the second ranked male tennis player in the world, has been claiming that professional tennis has had a match fixing problem since he rose to prominence.
As an individual sport, it may be easier to manipulate results in tennis than in the major North American team sports. However, it would be a mistake to assume that this is a problem which does not exist in North America. It is easy to imagine scenarios in which single athletes in any sport could subtly manipulate results and evade detection.
It would also be a mistake to assume that because sports gambling is less prevalent in North America, it is less likely that our results are manipulated. International gamblers may bet on North American sports and attempt to manipulate the results. North American gamblers may bet clandestinely, over the internet, or via mechanisms that are available here for betting. Once large sums of money are at stake, there is always reason to fear the possibility of manipulation and inappropriate behavior. The growing prevalence of daily fantasy sports contests—in which players pick a group of players for a set, short period of time, and bet on the results online—creates a new model were instead of needing to manipulate results, gamblers may only need to manipulate the performance of a single athlete.
An important step in preventing any form of manipulation which undermines the competitive process is cooperation between the leagues and the large corporate gambling entities. The Las Vegas casinos and other reputable online gambling sites keep track of any suspicious gambling activity which might indicate that results have been manipulated. They will often respond by refusing to take bets on those events. An additional step which might be desirable would be if these entities would cooperate with the leagues and inform them of suspicious gambling activity. The leagues could then follow up by investigating the players who might be involved. This would be beneficial to both sides and would ultimately reduce the potential for any outside manipulation of results.