This story appears in ESPN The Magazine's Feb. 16
We poll 73 pros to get an inside peek at athletes' thoughts on sports betting.
SPORTS STARS ... they're just like us! We polled 73* NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB players on everything from their betting beliefs to weirdest wagers. One MLBer says he'll bet on Titans-Jags "just to make the game interesting." An NFL tight end gripes, "It's easy to [think games are fixed] when calls don't go your way." And there's the NBA star who admits to gambling $30K in one day. (OK, maybe they're not all like us.) Point is, nearly every athlete has a story. To uncover them, you might just say we went all-in.
I WONDER HOW MANY PLAYERS DID NOT ANSWER AT ALL !!
AND HOW COME NO QUESTION LIKE HAVE YOU EVER BET ON THE SPORT YOU PLAY IN !!
OR DO YOU HAVE A GAMBLING PROBLEM !!
OR KNOW A PLAYER WHO DOES !!
Should sports betting be legal?
Yes: 63 percent
No: 37 percent
Would legal sports betting challenge the integrity of your sport?
Yes: 41 percent
No: 59 percent
Have you ever had a teammate you suspected of having a gambling problem?
Yes: 37 percent
No: 63 percent
Do you ever suspect that games in your sport are fixed?
Yes: 3 percent
No: 94 percent
Maybe: 3 percent
Are you aware of point spreads?
Yes: 42 percent
No: 58 percent
Have you ever heard of an athlete in your sport being approached for information about injuries?
Yes: 10 percent
No: 90 percent
Have you ever felt that being an underdog has motivated your team so much that it was an advantage?
Yes: 75 percent
No: 25 percent
I gamble money on other sports.
Yes: 34 percent
No: 66 percent
I gamble money on other things.
Yes: 58 percent
No: 42 percent
What's the largest amount of money you have wagered in one day?
Lowest: $0
?Highest: $30,000
Average: $1,673 In 1999 I was asked to fly to New York to the National Basketball Association office in Manhattan and met with league officials, x players and union officials, concerned about players' gambling. I was told, "We have a problem, and we're trying to find out how bad the problem is" "We have players gambling on airplane trips loosing all kinds of $" Officials asked me to keep my calendar open for the spring of the following year and said to me that they wanted me to address every team and player in the league. They then flew my wife in, and we had a second meeting they asked us develop questions that were going to be given to the players to answer. "We need to know how big the gambling problem is in the N.B.A ," When I hadn't heard from the N.B.A, I called and asked, "When do we start?" The talked were cancelled, and the response I got was this: "They said that the higher-ups didn't want the media to find out"
P S I HAVE THE QUESTIONS WE WROTE IN A STAMPED SEALED ENVOLOPE
FROM THAT DATE
In May 1996, Horace Balmer, the NBA's vice president for security, had two speakers flown to Norfolk, Va., whose messages were even very disturbing. Michael Franzese, a former mob boss who fixed professional and college games for organized crime, and Arnie Wexler, who for 23 years was a compulsive gambler. Franzere said, ``I talked to the NBA
rookies earlier this season . . . and it's amazing how many confided to me that they have gambling habits. I'm not going to mention their names, but if I did, you would know them" ``I personally got involved in compromising games with players, and it all came through their gambling habits.' ( THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT -May 11, 1996 )
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Arnie Wexler