Sports betting’s long, strange trip from American pariah to legitimate business continues to make headlines.
Take the front-page story in the most recent weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal: “Leagues Warm Up To Legal Betting.”
That’s not exactly big news in Las Vegas, where the press has long followed the ups and downs and gradual evolution of legal bookmaking. But the fact another major newspaper has taken the issue seriously is, in my mind, another sign that the national mood is changing. As the WSJ observes, some of the most important changes are coming straight from the top.
The National Basketball Association under now-emeritus Commissioner David Stern led the way. Although appreciation of the action wasn’t universal in the national sports press, allowing the 56th annual NBA All-Star Game to take place in Las Vegas, at the Thomas and Mack Center, constituted a sea change for the league.
There were the usual simperings about the facility, but the big news was the fact that a major sports league had caught on to the idea that Vegas wasn’t poison. In an interview before the game, Stern wouldn’t admit he was sold on sports gambling in close proximity to an NBA team, but it was clear the ice was broken.
A decade later, the NHL is in Las Vegas with the new Golden Knights franchise. Just last week, NFL owners voted overwhelmingly to allow the Oakland Raiders to move to Las Vegas, with the help of a staggering $750 million public finance infusion for a new stadium and an intriguing $650 loan from the Bank of America.
All of which illustrates that the perception of Las Vegas has changed, and along with it so has the image of bookmaking and sports betting.
As NBA senior vice president Dan Spillane told the WSJ, “There is definitely forward motion. Five years ago, no one saw this as something that could realistically happen.”
By no one, Spillane must have meant no one in his world. In the world of sports betting and legalized bookmaking — meaning, Nevada’s sports book operators — the legitimacy and regulatory rigor had long been present. With a few painful and embarrassing exceptions (the wickedly stupid shenanigans inside the M Resort sports book leap to mind), the sports book industry has served as a regulatory coal mine canary for college and professional leagues, spotting the slightest glitch in the betting lines.
Although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been consistent in publicly opposing legalized sports betting, he’s not nearly as rigid as previous league leaders. And with good reason: legal bookmaking aside, he knows the sports pools and fantasy sports add a sizzle that’s sorely needed in a league whose games are so burdened with commercial timeouts that they’re often numbing to watch.
With the NCAA appearing to be the last of the staunch holdouts on the subject of legalizing sports betting, a position that’s quite defensible, professional leagues are obviously warming to the idea.
The full transition is still years away, even with a former casino owner in the White House and current gambling kings on his speed dial. But there’s definitely something like confidence in the air.
Leave it to casino king Steve Wynn to provide the most interesting quote in the WSJ article. On the issue of the probability of corruption linked to sports gambling in the current era of highly paid professional athletes, he offered, “Who the hell is going to corrupt an NFL quarterback when they make $25 million a year. What are they going to offer them? A new car?”
Breaking that statement down might be grist for another column. But Wynn’s point is well taken: unlike their predecessors, modern NFL players don’t need to take jobs in the off-season to make ends meet.
And, the fact is, America is a lot more like Las Vegas than it once was willing to admit.
John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at jlnevadasmith@gmail.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.
