Every year, the biggest wagered on sporting event is the Super Bowl.
Last year, it was reported that over $6 billion was wagered on the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. This year, it will be more.
With the newly established relationship that makes the National Football League partners with the sports betting world and the legalization of sports wagering in an ever growing number of states, sports betting in the United States is entering an explosive phase. Where it goes is open to debate.
When I was working in the league in the 1970’s, as an employee I was banned from wagering on football. Only a decade before, two of the league’s best players, Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, were suspended for a season when they were found to be making wagers on their own teams. After Joe Namath was a national hero following his guaranteed win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle demanded he relinquish his ownership in Bachelor III, a hot spot nightclub known to be frequented and owned by underworld figures and gambling types.
The NFL has had a dramatically hypocritical relationship with gambling.
In 1994, they banned networks that carried NFL games, which were currently FOX, ABC, NBC and ESPN, from broadcasting point spreads within an hour of televising a game. Looking to distance themselves from gambling while still reaping the benefits from the interest spike based on a growing number of individuals wagering on games.
Before the NFL's attempt at a European football league folded in 2007, they pleaded with the powers in Las Vegas to set lines on their games to create interest in their struggling league. In 1958, Carroll Rosenbloom, who was known to be a huge gambler and owned the Baltimore Colts, had reportedly sent word to the sidelines at the beginning of his Championship overtime game against the New York Giants, not to end the contest on a field goal. It was known to some that Rosebloom had made a six figure wager on his Colts giving 3½ points. On a third down deep in Giants territory, Alan Ameche scored a winning touchdown for the Colts and Rosenbloom.
One of the best owners the league ever had, the San Francisco 49ers Eddie DeBartolo, was barred for a year when his illegal payment to Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards was revealed in an attempt to pave the way for a riverboard casino license. With the scandal, DeBartolo decided to cede his interest in the team to his sister, Denise York, who soon-there-after turned control of the organization over to her son, current 49ers owner, Jed York.
A number of NFL games appeared to have official calls that dramatically affected the outcome. Ten years ago, a bettor who had lost large sums of money on some of these games sued the NFL while claiming the “fix” was in. His case was dismissed when the league lawyers advanced the defense that the NFL operated the game and could manage it any way they chose.
A great legal defense, but not exactly a confidence builder that the NFL isn’t victim to the same kind of shenanigans that were exposed in the National Basketball Association in the Tim Donaghy revelations in 2007. He was convicted of fixing scores, and it was never confirmed that the league didn’t also take liberties to “assure” some teams advanced in the playoffs with the help of shady refereeing.
In 2012, I did a weekly handicapping show out of Reno that aired on ESPN affiliates. While discussing the upcoming Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, a leading sportsbook manager took note that Super Bowl XLVII might have the largest handle in history.
A “handle” in sportsbook vernacular refers to the amount of money wagered on a particular game.
In response to his comment, I asked, “What Super Bowl generated the most money wagered?”
His response actually took my breath away.
“That was Super Bowl XL, the Steelers versus the Seahawks.”
No Super Bowl was marred by more suspect officiating than that one, and the fact that it had the most money wagered on the outcome, and mostly on the Steelers who both won and covered the point spread, had me see red.
My reporter instincts kicked in, and in the weeks after that show I researched that game further and got into a conversation with someone who seemed to know more than would be best to publicly disclose. At the end of our conversation, I asked a simple question, “If a game was going to be fixed, why not fix a preseason game between the Cardinals and Buccaneers instead of a Super Bowl?”
His response was cold, “You can’t hide 50 million dollars on a preseason game.”
Today, billions of dollars will be wagered on the outcome of Super Bowl LVI. Like most fans, I’m going to assume that everything is on the up-and-up and blown calls are more a product of part time officials who are more incompetent than corrupt.
But if recent history be our guide, one team in today’s game has gotten a number of questionable calls going their way to push them through the playoffs and into this game. When the officials blew the whistle before Joe Burrow tossed a touchdown in the Wild Card game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the inadvertent whistle nullified the play.
Except it didn’t. The officials got together and decided to falsely declare that the whistle came after the pass was completed. It didn’t, and that officiating crew was removed from any further postseason action.
In the AFC Championship Game, at least three obvious calls were bent to favor the Bengals. A hit out of bounds wasn’t flagged, a bump after a fair catch on a punt was ignored, and what could have been ruled a fumble, given Joe Mixon left the ball on the field without being touched down, was ruled in Cincinnati’s favor. The call allowed them to complete their come-from-behind victory with a game ending field goal. The Bengals had ousted the two-time defending AFC Champions Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Maybe it is just human error … maybe the spirit of this young Bengals team has these part time officials unconsciously favoring the underdog Bengals. In any case, I’m not looking to beat the officials today, and have enough other factors pointing to the Bengals that I think today’s wager is clear.
Qoxhi Picks: Cincinnati Bengals (+4) over Los Angeles Rams