Sportsmen and Sports Betting Don’t Mix
Sports betting is a humungous industry world-wide. Horse racing is still seen as the sport that drives the betting industry, but nowadays the ease at which punters can slap down a bet with assistance from the digital age means anything with a result becomes a prime target for betting. We’re so used to seeing sportsmen and women on television screens that we tend to forget they also have personal lives. Over the years the fact that these stars enjoy placing bets of their own has drifted further into the spotlight, and not because it paints a bad picture of the individual, but rather because many of these people have developed unwanted addictions.
Sports stars have become global icons in their own right, and through hard work and much dedication are able to live privileged lifestyles. However, for many of these athletes it wasn’t always expensive restaurants and VIP corners. The vast majority of sports stars grew up in working class neighbourhoods, where there weren’t a selection of luxuries at their disposal. From the day they sign their first contract they are inundated with funds, the amount to which they have no experience in handling. The NFL, NBA and MLB have been dealing with this situation for decades, and sports betting is believed to play a big part in leading these young experts in their trade into financial difficulties.
Australia is currently battling a major gambling epidemic among players of the Australian Football League. David Schwarz, a former AFL player has been at the forefront in helping players who come forward. Having himself been addicted to betting he claims to have had 30 players approach him over the last year seeking help. “It’s an escalating problem. It’s bordering on being an epidemic,’’ said Schwarz.
Australia, much like the UK, has a booming gambling industry. “Australia is becoming a gold mine for international sports betting companies. This region has now become 80% of our company’s focus,” says AGamingClub.co.uk spokesperson Michael Sawyer.
The USA is far more open regarding sportsmen and their betting activities. Michael Jordan was never scared to be seen in casinos, and spent a large portion of his career fending off questions about his gambling habits. Floyd Mayweather Jr. has never been shy to show off the amounts he places on sports of all kinds. The boxing great once took to Twitter to broadcast a bet slip showing an amount of $100 000 that he had placed on a college basketball outcome. Indeed most know about the betting exploits of retired former NBA All-star Charles Barkley let the world in on a few secrets during an ESPN interview, such as winning $700 000 playing blackjack and betting on the Super Bowl. He also confessed to once owing the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas $400 000, an amount he failed to pay back for a prolonged period nearly leading to criminal charges being pressed.
There have been numerous studies recently attempting to find a connection between sportsmen and an addiction to sports betting. One to emerge from England was conducted using 350 sportsmen undergoing confidential interviews. What the study uncovered was quite alarming, in that sportsman are 3 times more likely to become addicted to gambling than the average human. Former NFL wide receiver Andre Rison, who others might know as the owner of the house that Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes burnt down in a domestic dispute, claimed to have blown chunks of his income on sports betting. The PGA icon John Daly, who has also been treated for alcoholism during his career, stated in 2006 that he had spent $50 - $60 million on gambling during the last 15 years of his life. England’s Barclays Premier League is constantly keeping tabs on players. Recently substantial fines were dished out to Cameron Jerome of Norwich and Newcastle’s Andros Townsend for breaking the closely monitored player betting rules. So one begs the question as to why?
It’s not that hard to understand why sportsmen form as relatively easy gambling habit. All of them are constantly chasing the thrill of a victory, which can be done 24/7 when you get into sports betting. The adrenaline rush of winning and losing large sums of money are also rife among sportsmen, and because their income always appears like it has no end to them they do not look ahead at the bigger picture. The mind-set is they believe they are going to earn big money, so if they lose $100,000 in a year it’s not a big deal,” elaborated David Schwarz when explaining why AFL players are so inclined to bet.
The overwhelming majority of professional sportsmen begin earning monumental salaries in their late teens and early twenties, not later in life when they already have experience in managing finances. A large payday to a young, energetic charger that has never had enough money to much less buy a television set has the world at their his/her fingertips, and flexing financial muscle becomes important. Andre Rison also mentioned that sports betting triggers the competitive nature in sportsmen, while seeing who can win the most money on a bet keeps competition alive in the locker room.
There are boat loads of reasons as to why a pro sportsman/woman might become a gambling addict, but one thing they don’t seem to understand is that the money you earn whilst playing needs to get you to the end of your life.
