Sports gambling is bigger than ever. It’s also gotten incredibly weird.
No. 15 Patrick Mahomes playing for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2024 Super Bowl.
Football season is here, which means the return of a well-worn tradition in my home: Going to my trash chute to place sports bets.
You might wonder why. I live in the great state of New York, where online sports gambling has been legal since 2022. Placing a same-game parlay from the comfort of my couch is basically a right at this point. And these days they are practically begging you to do it with the amount of advertisements and promos you see.
But when I want to place a bet that will undoubtedly lose, I need to walk to my building’s smelly trash-chute room.
See, despite living in New York, I am close enough to Connecticut to see it from my window. (Fancy, I know.) But because my sportsbook can’t decipher which state I’m in, it’s resolved to block my access entirely. (Rude!)
At least, until I make a trip to the trash room.
The irony is online sports gambling is legal in Connecticut, too! So regardless of which state I am in, I am legally allowed to bet.
However, I need to take an extra step — technically, 80 steps (I counted)— to make all the bets my heart desires (and my wallet will come to regret).
Different state, different gambling rules
My trash-chute gambling pilgrimage is specific to me, but it represents one of the many quirks of the legalized gambling industry. Despite sports-betting revenue hitting $10.92 billion last year, the market is still a bit funky.
Here’s another fun one. When you’re in New York, you’re not allowed to bet on in-state colleges.
New York’s not alone, as many states try to avoid college athletes from being influenced by gamblers. Some states do allow bets on in-state schools, but not player-specific bets, commonly referred to as “prop bets.”
In theory, that makes sense. The execution, not so much.
So while I can’t bet on Syracuse University, which is about 250 miles from my home, I can bet on the handful of schools a short drive up I-95 in Connecticut.
Other states’ laws are even more peculiar. In Illinois, for example, you are prohibited from betting on in-state colleges unless you place the bet in person.
Leagues love gambling until they don’t
But what makes this new era of sports gambling particularly confusing is the relationship between sportsbooks and the leagues they’re setting lines for.
Years ago, Pete Rose was the biggest cautionary tale in sports. The MLB’s all-time hits leader saw his legacy destroyed in 1989 when he was permanently banned from baseball over allegations he bet on games he played and managed in.
More than 30 years later, leagues and gambling companies are thick as thieves. All four major professional sports in the US — NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL — have partnership deals with at least one sportsbook.
Even active players are getting in on the action, something that was unfathomable a decade ago. The NBA’s LeBron James and NHL’s Connor McDavid, two of the top players in their respective sports, both cut deals with sportsbooks in recent years. What a time to be alive!
Yet despite all the promotion (and sponsorship money) touting sports gambling, athletes betting on their own games is still very much banned. All four major US sports leagues have recently had to suspend players over gambling violations, with a few resulting in lifetime bans.
Sniffing out these scandals could be viewed as part of the industry’s growing pains, with the stiff penalties serving as a warning for other players to steer clear.
But the leagues happily accepting money from sportsbooks somewhat blurs the lines of what is and isn’t acceptable.
Two high-profile NFL rookies learned that the hard way. Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers seemed to be reprimanded after talking about a $10,000 bet they had with each other over who would win the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Maybe they should have placed the bet with one of the NFL’s official gambling partners?
Sports media has also deepened its ties to gambling, further muddying the waters. Most notable was ESPN entering the gambling fray last year when it launched ESPN Bet. (It hasn’t been going great, but ESPN’s hoping a New York launch could reverse its fortune.
The result at ESPN and elsewhere is gambling — once the type of thing major outlets would only gently tease at — has infiltrated almost every aspect of how the media covers sports. Betting dominates TV segments and even in-game coverage.
This comes at a time when some studies are starting to show the economic toll sports betting has taken on some Americans’ finances.
To be clear to the gamblers, I am not trying to yuck your yum. Sports gambling can be fun! Placing a wager on a game makes a dull, uninteresting matchup immediately exciting. And while there are obvious risks associated with it, the same could be said for plenty of vices.
But it’s fascinating an industry that’s now a key part of mainstream culture after years of existing on the outskirts still seems to have so much left to figure out.
In the meantime, you know where to find me. Just don’t mind the smell.
