The real Madness of March has nothing to do with some No. 15 or No. 16 seed dumping one of the favorites and wrecking millions of brackets across the country. It has everything to do with the amount that will be gambled – legally and otherwise – as the 2024 NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments kick off in earnest on Thursday and Friday.
According to the financial website, Wallethub.com, an estimated $2.72 billion will be wagered through legal channels during the 2024 tournament. In excess of $4 billion is expected to be wagered illegally, through local bookmakers and the like. So we are looking at $7 billion being bet on an event that dwarfs even the Super Bowl in the wagering world. (Is it a surprise that March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month?) This is great news for the so-called House – the gambling entities that bombard us with ads during every televised and streamed sports event these days, showing people having the time of their lives winning wagers and reveling in the excitement of it all.
It is terrible news for everyone else, because here’s the one immutable truth about gambling: The House always wins. It is undefeated in history. You may win a bet, even a big bet, and love the rush that the experience gives you. But collectively, bettors lose. Worse yet, some of them lose everything, because for a small but growing segment of the population (studies show there at least 2.5 million problem gamblers in the U.S. ) , gambling becomes an addiction that can wreak as much havoc and damage to their lives as any alcoholic beverage or opioid. You’ve heard and read the disclaimer a thousand times, about where to call if you have a problem with gambling. There’s a reason why it’s spoken at 200 MPH and written in print so small you can’t read it without a magnifying glass.
The House wants you to pay no attention.
Look, I am not here to preach to you. I totally understand that many people find gambling fun, and do it responsibly. Good for them. I mean that. My son places wagers on various sports events and has a blast doing it. I’m sure he’s got his bracket all filled out and is ready to go for this year’s tournament. I am not judging you at all if that describes you, too. I get that it can be a harmless and exciting pastime for most people. I just have never cared for it. I’ve never even purchased a lottery ticket. Is it because I come from a family with decades of experience in 12-step programs, or because I’ve known people whose entire lives have been ruined because they were sure that the next big bet would be the winner that would get them back to even, and then they would stop? Maybe so. But those winners never come, and without intervention, the gambling doesn’t stop. I have friends whose ideal getaway is a weekend on The Strip in Las Vegas. I’d rather stay in a Motel 6 in Gary, Indiana. The casinos I’ve visited almost always strike me as some of the unhappiest places on earth. I remember being in Mohegan Sun in Connecticut once to cover a basketball game. The next morning, on my way home, I saw a grim looking man alone with a drink at a slot machine at 8 in the morning. What a sad spectacle that was.
Am I an old-fashioned prude? A killjoy? I plead guilty, I guess. I just think that the sports world is dancing with a very dangerous partner. It has been since 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, effectively allowing states to decide for themselves whether to legalize sports gambling. Prior to this ruling, sports betting was fully legal only in the state of Nevada. Now it is legal in 38 states plus Washington, D.C.
Gambling once was anathema to every professional sports league. The very integrity of the game was seen to be at stake, because what if a player or manager got in too deep with a bookie, got desperate, and figured the easiest way back to solvency would be to make a turnover or fumble a grounder or overhit a forehand to assure the desired outcome and score a big windfall?
There’s a reason – and a very good one – that Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life. Now MLB has an official betting partner, your good friends at FanDuel. Rose must be loving this hypocrisy.
Speaking of baseball, on the cusp of Opening Day, the biggest story out there isn’t about hitting and pitching or World Series predictions; it’s about the best player in the game, Shohei Ohtani, suddenly being embroiled in a troubling, unseemly scandal involving the $4.5 million in gambling debts of his close friend and interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Two days ago, Mizuhara was next to Ohtani in the Dodgers dugout. Now he has been fired after being accused of a “massive theft” related to his gambling. In the span of a few days, Mizuhara went from telling ESPN that Ohtani paid off the debts to help him out to saying that Ohtani knew nothing about the payments. All the authorities know is that $4.5 million of Ohtani’s money was sent to a California bookmaker who is under federal investigation.
Nobody is saying that Ohtani, the two-way wonder who signed a record $700 million contract with the Dodgers this winter, placed bets (which are still illegal in California) himself. It remains unclear what, if anything, he knew about his pal’s wagering problems. This all may blow over, and turn out to be a terrible betrayal. But I’m ready to wager you a New York bagel on this: that with pro sports not just in bed with gambling outfits now, but under the covers and in a deep embrace, gambling scandals are going to increase dramatically, and some player, somewhere, is going to throw a game to win a bet to get out of debt.
Online betting just became legal in NC. I honestly didn’t realize it wasn’t before. But now I am sorry it is, because it’s just another way for hardworking people to lose money they don’t have. Be careful out there!
I'd rather spend a night in Hanna, WY in a motel that is essentially mobile homes stacked together rattling in the wind all night. Which I have.