Gambling Insiders Blast NFL Phoniness on Sports Betting
Discussion of the NFL'S aggressive stance against Delaware's legalization of sports betting has caused many gaming industry insiders to speak the truth that all know but pretend doesn't exist. They say the National Football League should be thanking its lucky stars for sports gambling, not opposing it.
NFL spokesmen have insisted the league feels any sports gambling affects the integrity of game results, and leads to corruption of players and games. But observers wonder how legal sports betting would be worse than the huge black market which now exists in the underground sports wagering world.
"How can they say that it will hurt the integrity of the games?" asked Las Vegas handicapper Brandon Lang in an interview with Newsday. "You and I both know that the NFL knows where their bread is buttered. Why is the Super Bowl so big? Because it provides so much action: The coin toss, the National Anthem, all that extra stuff. I laugh every time I hear that from the NFL."
Ex-mob bookie Michael Franzese makes speeches to athletes on the pernicious dangers of gambling and gaming influences. He tells them what the NFL refuses to admit, "Your sport is popular because people are gambling on it."
"Without betting on sports, they (the NFL) wouldn't be building stadiums; they'd be building bleachers," says Lang.
With sports betting as prevalent as it is, experts say the NFL's burgeoning popularity, and ability to sell billions in beer commercials, is based on the interest generated by having action on games. The NFL fools no one when it says gambling must remain illegal; its fanbase is made up of the people doing the gambling.
