Delaware Governor Rips NFL, NCAA on Gambling Hypocrisy

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Delaware Governor Rips NFL, NCAA on Gambling Hypocrisy

Filed on April 9th, 2009 in NCAA Football ⋅ ⋅

I’m beginning to really like Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware. Not only is he trying to get sports betting legalized in his state, but he isn’t afraid to call out the NFL and NCAA on their gambling hypocrisy.

In an interview with Real Clear Sports (Thanks: SbB), Markell points out the facts of the NFL and NCAA and their stances on gambling. Both the NFL and NCAA are against all sports betting in their sports on the record, but both are extremely hypocritical of themselves in the process.

Some samples:

Markell on the NFL:

“Clearly the NFL is benefiting handsomely and mightily from the these networks that talk about the spreads and all that. I think that as a result it’s odd that they’re trying to limit our ability. Frankly there are so many people who are betting illegally. We’re basically saying: ‘Why don’t we bring a type of regulation to this?’”

Markell on the NCAA saying that they will ban NCAA playoff games from Delaware if gambling passes:

“…the Western Athletic Conference hosts its men’s and women’s tournaments in the Reno. And the winners in those tournaments go on to play in the big tournament. You can actually bet on the Las Vegas Bowl, which is played obviously right there in Vegas. So what appears to be fine in other states for some reason from the NCAA’s perspective, doesn’t seem to be fine for Delaware. So we think they’re being inconsistent and retaliatory.”

I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Markell on these issues. If it weren’t for gambling, the NFL’s billion dollar industry would take a huge financial hit. While Roger Goodell and the owners would like to think that their sport is so popular because of the action and the games, they’d be wrong. The NFL is so popular because of the millions of dollars that are on every game, and the huge rise in fantasy football. The NFL injury reports were created for the sole purpose of gambling. The league knows that it needs gamblers to survive, yet runs and hides from any association with it. It is hypocritical and wrong for the NFL to fight legalized gambling in any state.

As for the NCAA, who do they think they are kidding? Saying that they will bar NCAA playoff games from taking place in Delaware is about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. How about the Mountain West Conference tournament being played in Las Vegas? Or the WAC in Reno? Or the Las Vegas Bowl? How about the legal sports betting that Oregon has had over the years? I didn’t hear any of this then. Without gambling, there is zero interest in college sports that aren’t played between top 10 teams. The MAC, WAC, Conference USA, and all the other mid-majors would be worthless to many, many people. The TV ratings are terrible now, but they’d be non-existent without money on the games.

Gov. Markell is absolutely right about this. If you want to oppose sports betting for moral reasons, I’ll disagree with you, but I understand. But to pull the fake BS that the NFL and NCAA are pulling is pathetic. I hope the betting is legalized in Delaware and the the governor tells the NCAA to take their playoff game and stick it up their asses. Go ahead and try playing a Division I-AA playoff game at a neutral site and see how many people show up.

You don’t have to embrace gambling to co-exist with it. Las Vegas has done more to alert the NCAA on point-shaving and game fixing than any illegal bookies will ever do. The betting is going to happen. Embrace regulating it and use the power of the sportsbook to regulate your own sports.

Kudos to Gov. Markell for having balls and being right.

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