Earlier in the summer I wrote an article about sports wagering. Companies are jockeying for position in order to dominate this new segment. There has been backlash however with the decision to legalize sports gambling. It would seem that players themselves had no say in the matter but now they are voicing their opinions.
International Game Technology also referred to as IGT has partnered up with one of the leading fantasy sports companies, FanDuel. Together they have opened up sportsbooks at Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey, and have plans to create self-service machines as well as online wagering through their FanDuel app. In the first two weeks sports gambling was legal, New Jersey accepted $16.4 million dollars in wagers.
A major concern that was brought to life was privacy. Players are often asked about their decisions in the offseason as well as when they are expected to come back from an injury. Not only are players harassed by the media and the public but their close family and friends are also affected by this, assuming that they also have knowledge of what an athlete will do. A major example of this was the LeBron James decision earlier this month. Richard Jefferson openly stated to the media that he was no longer friends with LeBron so that no one would continue to bother him trying to get information out of him regarding his free agency. When you factor in monetary gain from this information in the way of sports gambling, this information becomes extremely valuable and will become even more sought out.
Former NFL player Eric Winston who is also the president of the NFL Player's Association, stated that gambling dehumanizes players. He references fantasy football and the fans reactions to poor performances and social media attacks. People forget that everyone is human, even these professional athletes. We lose light of this because they are so consistently great at what they do, and when they do not perform as expected, they receive threatening messages on social media. It is unfair to the players to be viewed in this light because they always compete and try their best to win and when they lose I'm sure they feel bad enough and do not need the excessive hatred they receive on social media platforms.
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