The Great Parlay: Online Gambling’s Integration Into Sports Leagues

Sponsorships, in-person facilities, and the shift that is changing the tone of sports in real-time

Over a year ago I was in between jobs and accepted a position with a company that operated within a casino in downtown Detroit. The nature of the job was centered around speaking to casino patrons about the merits of sports betting apps. The appeal is easy enough to see, instead of coming to a casino’s sportsbook, load up money on the app and make the bets right before the game starts. Fast forward to today, and these betting apps are everywhere. They sponsor numerous podcasts and have deals with the sports leagues as official betting partners. But despite all of the integration into the leagues, there is still a hard line when it comes to players wagering on games. As sports become more entwined with gambling, there seem to be shades of hypocrisy brewing.

The Purity of the Game

If there is one thing that sports leagues and the powers within them hate, it is the notion that a game or outcome is fixed. The NBA has this disaster become a reality with the Tim Donaghy game-fixing scandal, where a referee…