Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are keenly aware of gambling in our society. What was once reserved for seedy back-alleys and secret speakeasies has now blossomed into a multi-billion dollar industry.
In the modern scope, what started with fantasy football decades ago has now become full-on sportsbooks outside of (and some even inside of) sports arenas and stadiums. Powerball regularly reaches a billion dollars. Just use the promo code FAKE NED at literally any betting site to get $5 off of your next bet. (This isn’t true, but I’m working on it. . .)
This past week, a group in Missouri announced they had reached the threshold of signatures to add sports betting to the November ballot election. What is about two years old in Kansas is now barreling down I-70 into Missouri.
In many ways, the legitimacy of gambling is a boon for local economies. It is estimated that Kansas will make $1.8 billion dollars in the 2023 tax year off of gambling revenues. The market cap for some of these gambling and gaming companies looks like a bunch of zeroes and commas. DraftKings is worth $19 Billion. Sands Gaming tops the list at $38 billion. It’s a hot market to say the least.
But here in Missouri, we always need to put our doofus spin on anything good. The Chiefs have a Super Bowl parade and there’s a shooting. The Royals get a fancy vote on a new stadium, and it’s mired in grass roots upheaval. And if we do vote on sports betting in November, it will be in the shadow of Jontay Porter.
Now, if you don’t know Jontay Porter, it’s probably because he played for a terrible Missouri Tigers basketball team in the class of 2018. He was drafted into the NBA and most recently was under contract with the Toronto Raptors. Well, that was until this week.
You see, Porter got slapped with the rare “lifetime ban” by the NBA. He didn’t just bet on sports – which you’re not supposed to do anyway if you’re a professional athlete – he bet on his own games AND put his thumb on the scale to sway the bets in his favor.
If his over/under was 12 points, he’d bet the under and score 11. If he was supposed to get 4 rebounds, he’d bet the over and work to get five even at the end of a game that was well past decided. He affected wins and losses for his team which strikes to the heart of competition and the whole reason for sports in the first place. And he didn’t just bet $20 here and there like you and I might do. He was betting tens of thousands of dollars. NBA commissioner Adam Silver used the term “cardinal sin” when describing the situation. It’s really, really, really bad. And also very Missouri.
Sports betting isn’t going anywhere, however, and it’ll soon be coming to Missouri. The hope is that it won’t unintentionally be the catalyst that evaporates trust in the competitors on the court, the pitch, and the field. Because there are more idiots out there like Porter, I’ll guarantee that.
In the meantime, just head over to my DraftKingsESPNBetMGMBets account and drop $50 on my over/under word count for this article. It is currently set at 559. Hint: Bet the over.
(Follow the adventures of Chris Kamler on social media outlets, where you’ll find him as @TheFakeNed)