How does legalized gambling affect college basketball?

[BigBlueFanGA]

Any increase will not be insignificant.

Ask yourself how many people would be at the horse track if they couldn't gamble on it. Do you think it's a coincidence that a niche sport like college hoops suddenly dominates our culture for three weeks every March? Do you know how many non-sports fans are still part of the SuperBowl prop betting?

If you let people gamble on it, beyond just the degenerates, it will draw new viewers. Maybe not to a cable box for a full 2 hour Tuesday night game in January, but to apps and websites that give score updates, to ESPN's new premium service, to the various streaming companies that are already engaged in bidding wars to show live sports. And everywhere there's a set of eyeballs, there's a place to sell ad space.

None of that even gets in to the potential for team/conference sponsorships. If Dr Pepper can be the official beverage of the SEC, why can't Bob's Casino be the "Official Corporate Gaming Partner?" We already see ads on NBA jerseys. There's another avenue.

Trust me, this didn't finally happen because our government trusts the citizens to engage in activities of their free will and leisure. It's because they saw the money on the table. Look at what fantasy football has done for the NFL. This is real-time, real-life, fantasy sports. From your phone. While the game is on.

I know all that. Making it "legal" simply isn't going to change it much. Those who wanted to bet already did. Those who wanted to watch already do. You've convinced yourself there are millions of untapped bettors who also didnt watch, and now they'll do both. I'm saying that is very unlikely. Even if half a million of these folks started watching, that is relatively insignificant.

 

[mj2k10]

No, I was saying 100% of a billion which is roughly what the NCAA brings in. You said it, not me. As for the way teams are paid, they aren't paid directly anymore. The conferences are paid. USA may have listed those revenue numbers but you are very conveniently leaving out the expense numbers and you're totally ignoring the fact that 90% of schools lose money in athletics....that's after they have e received NCAA money split up within their conference. You haven't listed a single thing that supports your position.

A big chunk of those 90% lie their asses off about losing money on sports.

There is almost no motivation whatsoever for athletic departments to report huge profits. None. So they make up complete BS accounting that's completely laughable.

Movie studios have spent decades claiming that movies that make 100's of millions of dollars actually lose money. A lot of athletic departments follow that lead.

 

[GonzoCat90]

I know all that. Making it "legal" simply isn't going to change it much. Those who wanted to bet already did. Those who wanted to watch already do. You've convinced yourself there are millions of untapped bettors who also didnt watch, and now they'll do both. I'm saying that is very unlikely. Even if half a million of these folks started watching, that is relatively insignificant.

It will because it will make it easier and mainstream.

You can illegally stream sporting events through weird websites hosted overseas, but if they let you watch UFC free on your phone, the viewership is going up.

If you get an ESPN App notification that the Spurs and Warriors are tied going into overtime and can bet the winner with the push of two buttons, suddenly you care about that game when you didn't before.

It's why the NFL saw a 50% growth in revenue from 2010 to 2016. In that time, nearly 58 million people per year in America played fantasy sports, which is more than double what it was in the previous decade.

I don't think the TV numbers will be as drastic in terms of raw data because of all the cord cutting, etc., but the money is there. People love to feel involved. Just wait and see.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

It will because it will make it easier and mainstream.

You can illegally stream sporting events through weird websites hosted overseas, but if they let you watch UFC free on your phone, the viewership is going up.

If you get an ESPN App notification that the Spurs and Warriors are tied going into overtime and can bet the winner with the push of two buttons, suddenly you care about that game when you didn't before.

It's why the NFL saw a 50% growth in revenue from 2010 to 2016. In that time, nearly 58 million people per year in America played fantasy sports, which is more than double what it was in the previous decade.

I don't think the TV numbers will be as drastic in terms of raw data because of all the cord cutting, etc., but the money is there. People love to feel involved. Just wait and see.

I don't mind being wrong, I just don't see it. I'd say wait and see to you too. The NCAA isn't going to have a "preferred" betting site.

 

[GonzoCat90]

I don't mind being wrong, I just don't see it. I'd say wait and see to you too. The NCAA isn't going to have a "preferred" betting site.

Oh I don't disagree there, at first. They'll fight it as much as they can. But once they realize what they're missing out on, they'll be in bed with it just like they are with the shoe companies.

 

[CELTICAT]

It's going to be fun when each ref on the floor has different bets on the spread for the same game.

 

[martinsm30]

Valid argument, back in the day when the NCAA Tournament television contract was a few million dollars total, and a coach like John Wooden made 32,500 dollars his final season (and no, I didn't forget any zeros there).

Let me ask a question: How did colleges run all their sports' programs (and the NCAA exist) back before they were raking in all these millions, or, in the case of the NCAA Tournament TV deal, billions? Although athletic departments are certainly larger today, as far as I know, UK and every other D1 school of any size had no problems at all funding all kinds of teams that certainly weren't raking in a lot of cash.

But now the argument is that the athletes in the sports that generate all these billions can't get a cut of it because it's needed for other things.

Those other things are mainly an industry of people whose livelihoods are based in large part on the money generated by the 2 big revenue sports.

As for the math, here's what I know- a high-end estimate of D1 players on basketball scholarships would be 4,500. A billion divided by 4,500 is $222,222 per player.

But there's not enough money. Horsesh**.

Title IX?

 

[mj2k10]

Title IX?

Doesn't seem to stop anyone from paying men's football and basketball coaches millions, now including assistants in football.

 

[martinsm30]

Doesn't seem to stop anyone from paying men's football and basketball coaches millions, now including assistants in football.

Every athlete will have to be paid the same. The lacrosse team will start up proceedings the moment the football team gets more money. The government does not see this as a business. Also I wonder how paying may impact the non profit status of college sports in the governments eyes.

I know it is all a big joke.