Waiting for the first scandal
The enthusiasm resounded in the last weeks from many channels. It was the anticipation of the Masters-the most important golf tournament of the year. The supporters of the sport had to wait six months this year. Because it was postponed of corona due to. But hardly anyone seemed so euphoric as the self-appointed experts in their YouTube videos, who see the prestigious event as a fairground for a very special passion. For gambling.
No wonder web link. "Betting on golf has skyrocketed in recent months," the Washington Post wrote a week ago, citing two main reasons: the Supreme Court's decision two and a half years ago that lifted the previously existing statewide ban on betting. And the willingness of the organizers of the sport – and here especially the American PGA Tour – to fuel the business in order to make a profit.
Just the tip of the iceberg
I think this is just the tip of the iceberg, "says Jason Sobel, a golf journalist who, after several years as an employee of classic sports media such as ESPN and Golf Channel, has been working for Action Network, a successful information service for Sportzocker, for some time:" The PGA Tour has four partnership agreements with major betting companies. And a deal with Draft Kings, a specialist provider of ‘Fantasy Sports’. This will grow even more in the coming years. And I am not so naive as to believe that this is not about money.
By the way, the betting process no longer consists solely of predictions about the winners. Because every professional tournament lasts four days and takes place at a leisurely pace, there are countless opportunities for side bets. How far do players hit the ball? How good is your form when putting on the greens?
When betting companies want to offer such things-say,' Who keeps hitting the ball on the 13th hole-Jon Rahm or Bryson DeChambeau?'this can now be done in real time. But only the PGA Tour has the decisive information. And that requires a nice, small commission from the betting providers.
Criminalistics professor warns against naivety
Canadian Declan Hill, a criminology professor at the University of Newhaven, has been warning for years about the naivety with which the dangers of betting fraud and corruption are ignored in the United States. He said in 2018: "The US reminds me of Germany around 2003. They just don't believe that something like this will happen to them. They think they are magically armed because Americans are more honest than citizens of other countries.“
The release by court order caused a confusing situation. So far, only 20 states have allowed sports betting. This week, Hill compared this to Deutschlandfunk with the following analogy: "It's like something is allowed in Bavaria and Berlin, but not in Franconia and Hamburg. A dream for anyone interested in money laundering. And it hardly affected the illegal betting business. Instead, there are transactions all over the country where the money flows back and forth. The Supreme Court's decision was excellent. Legalization is the only viable way. But look what happened in Germany when you opened the betting market. A few years later it was discovered that hundreds of football matches had been postponed. Now we in America are waiting for this to happen as well.“
Hill's forecast: A similar scandal will soon ensue. Maybe not in golf, but probably in college sports. There the athletes are pure amateurs and do not earn a penny. There are no better candidates for bribery attempts by bettors.