Fit to Play with Jim Johnson: The dark side of sport

Bill Bradley, the great Knicks player and Rhodes Scholar, went up for a jump shot at the end of the game. As usual, it was good and put the Knicks up by eight points with almost no time on the clock. Rather than the usual cheer, Bradley heard some boos coming from the fans. Confused, after the game Bradley asked the trainer why some fans had booed him. The trainer told him that the spread on the game was projected at six points and that winning by eight had cost fans money.

Bradley played 10 years for the Knicks and went on to the U.S. Senate for 18 years. In 1992 he was responsible for the law banning gambling regulation by states, often called the Bradley Act. But in 2018 the Supreme Court overturned the Act, allowing states to regulate gambling. Legislators couldn’t wait to permit gambling. They could make money without raising taxes. Today, 39 states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico regulate gambling.

Sports columnists, including me, have written extensively about the new laws allowing players to receive money as a result of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Likewise, the transfer portal is a regular topic of conversation. Sports gambling has become so common that the negative effects are only casually mentioned. Gambling is the dark side of sport, often done in secret. Sports gambling takes away from sport, reducing it to a game of chance. As Bradley said, I don’t want to see players turned into “roulette chips.”

Bradley played for the enjoyment of sport, working with teammates to achieve excellence. As he described, when play is perfect, it is beautiful; when time is forgotten, when the only thing one sees is the court, where fatigue is a stranger. Can one achieve this experience if they know someone has bet their mortgage on their performance, that they will be chastised and threatened on social media if they drop the ball or miss a free throw? Gambling robs sport of its purity.

Gambling has been part of sport for ages, but not at the current level. Backyard sport books have always been around, allowing one to drop off a betting card at the local barbershop or bar, but the organized system we have today is far removed from that. Today, you can bet anywhere, anytime. You can bet at the game and during the game. Unlike Canada where athletes and celebrities are forbidden from promoting gambling on television, famous athletes in the U.S. go on television touting the fun of gambling, challenging us to take a chance. Even the squeaky clean Manning brothers push everyone to gamble. Isn’t it enough fun for a few friends to get together on a Sunday afternoon, yell, scream, and eat 2,000 calories of Cheetos and Buffalo wings? Why does more have to be better?

Rather than simply watching and cheering the home team, many spectators are working their phones, looking for scores where they have made bets. They don’t even watch games. Some say it’s more fun to watch a game if you have a bet. Really? Have you seen someone who just bet their car payment away? And people do lose their car payments and much more, their house, their car, their marriage, their dignity. Some people do win at gambling, but they are in the minority. Don’t think just because you played high school football in Sheepdip, Wyoming you know football gambling. That’s why the books give you free money to bet. They know they will get it back.

Gambling addiction affects thousands. There’s always that little line at the end of gambling commercials to call 1-800-IMBROKE for help. I’m sure that works. The scary part of the dark side is the direct effect on athletes. Will athletes be paid to point shave, just make a mistake or two to manipulate the spread? Athletes sign a document indicating that they are not to bet on sport but in May 2023 it was discovered that at least 35 athletes from the University of Iowa and Iowa State were routinely betting on games, including their own.

This is the tip of the iceberg; there will be future incidents. As well, even when athletes make honest errors, they will be blamed. Hundreds of athletes are abused on social media for mistakes. The abuse is not from true fans but from people who just suffered a gambling loss. Will we lose the purity of sport? Collegiate sport is in trouble.

Jim Johnson is a retired professor of exercise and sport science after teaching 52 years at Smith College and Washington University in St. Louis. He comments about sport, exercise, and sports medicine. He can be reached at [email protected]