Lost in the bombast of the Raiders’ exit from Oakland is the not-so-subtle admission by the NFL that their opposition to gambling was always temporaryFor decades, the NFL wanted nothing to do with Las Vegas. As the city boomed in the Nevada desert and other professional team sports at least dabbled with the idea of a Las Vegas franchise, the world’s most lucrative league stayed away. Even talking about Las Vegas meant opening the door to gambling – and the NFL wasn’t going down that alley.But now that Nevada has $750m of public money to offer the Oakland Raiders for a gleaming new stadium, the NFL is embracing Sin City, even championing it. When the league’s owners approved the Raiders’...
During this splendid week of racing, football and rugby union, fans face a bombardment of betting advertising. But there are already too many punters loaded up with debt and anguishThey say there is more Guinness spilt annually at the Cheltenham Festival than champagne quaffed at Royal Ascot. It’s a hoary old saw that probably isn’t true, but helps add to the sense of chaotic ribaldry with which National Hunt racing’s annual March jamboree is associated compared to its supposedly more genteel and moneyed Flat equivalent. In the coming days scenes of bawdy triumph and utter despair will unfold in what us hacks are obliged to refer to at least once per year as the great natural amphitheatre of Prestbury Park,...
This season 11 of Premier League’s 20 teams have shirts sponsored by betting companies – is it healthy the gambling industry is so deeply embedded in our national sport?Wayne Shaw has made a fool out of himself. In fulfilling the terms of Sun Bet’s promotional punt – roly-poly goalie to eat pie during FA Cup tie – the Sutton United reserve made it seem like he was either breaking rules on gambling or moonlighting in marketing for a bookmaker. Neither is a good look. He damaged by association the club he loves and they were well within their rights to ask him to resign.The furore over “Pie-gate” has as much of a whiff about it as the stunt that went...
Will a player be evaluated for a concussion? Will Lady Gaga say ‘Trump’ during the half-time show? Nothing enables a degenerate gambler quite like the Super Bowl, where the smorgasbord of proposition bets on offer is dizzyingEach year, the amount of Super Bowl proposition bets offered to folks who enjoy placing a wager grows larger and larger. For Sunday’s big game between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons at Houston’s NRG Stadium, the smorgasbord of props found on the offshore gambling website, 5Dimes.com, is downright dizzying.It will take you several minutes just to read each prop on offer. Take a look.5dimes going all out on the prop bets for the Super Bowl. You need 6 hours to analyze all...