One of the few certainties in life, aside from death and taxes, is the inevitability that when there is gambling, there will always be a mafia. Don’t take my word for it. Just ask NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (and possibly soon NFL Chief Roger Goodell), who will star in the next Scorsese mob epic. Because they have all decided to embrace one of the world’s oldest and most dangerous vices.
In fact, two federal indictments filed last week will make Scorsese’s job much easier. Basketball star Terry Rozier and Hall of Fame coach turned Chauncey Billups fell in love with the high roller card game rigged with x-ray tables, hidden cameras and loaded decks. Celebrities are used as bait. The information was passed on to the “quarterback”, a mob-connected player who had never been defeated. And when the high rollers couldn’t pay, the threat came. Violence, intimidation, and worse.
In a separate indictment, players were involved in passing on confidential information about injuries and the like, allowing insiders to make lucrative “prop bets,” a popular sports gambling innovation that involves betting on how many yards a running back makes in a game or how many free throws LeBron completes.
So-called “victims” have lost tens of thousands, sometimes millions, through these scams, the Fed says. But the real damage goes much deeper. The league’s unholy marriage with gambling and, by extension, organized crime exposes the moral corruption that has infected every level of American sports because some of the country’s most woke executives saw green instead of danger when they went there.
The scope of sports betting is actually enormous. Globally, this business is growing to $100 billion. It used to be confined to the back alleys, bookies and, of course, Las Vegas. The league banned players from participating. Pete Rose famously refused to be inducted into the Hall of Fame because he went there.
That all changed in 2018 when the Supreme Court ruled that states could legalize it, but now it’s everywhere. Sports books advertise before and after games. Sponsored content mixed with analysts promoting betting lines. The stadium proudly displays the logos of various sportsbook companies, allowing fans to place bets on their iPhones while sipping a beer or enjoying a hot dog.
Players can also enjoy themselves as long as they do not bet on their games. The league believes this is a healthy outlet for their aggressive nature.
Silver, Goodell and the rest make moral arguments about “equity” all day, but their social conscience stops at the cash register. And that record continues to ring thanks to lucrative partnerships with gambling operators, advertising partners and the resulting fan engagement figures.
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It seems like a lot of fun until you understand the downsides. Players are restricted from betting on their games, but that doesn’t stop them because it’s too easy to avoid. The league tests steroids, not where players bet.
Next is the mafia. I grew up in a gambling family. My father and grandfather were nearly disabled. They gambled on everything, including football and horse racing. Fortunately, my family was never without food or heat while my father gambled, but I know people who were.
Financing: Organized crime knows more about the gambling business than any sports book or league official, as they have specialized in gambling-related operations for decades.
It reminds me again of Silver and Goodell and the stupidity behind them embracing this disgusting lifestyle. That’s not to say Five Families regularly consults with leagues or infiltrates sportsbook companies, but the Mob knows its customers.
The same goes for the neighbors who like my pop, the gamblers who don’t want to follow the Vegas rules, and the sports figures. The reason why sports figures make such attractive targets is very simple. The same addictive nature that fuels their drive on the gridiron or basketball court also carries over to leisure activities like gambling.
Normalize gambling like we always have. It’s no surprise that NBA players were caught up in the midst of federal indictments last week. Members of Cosa Nostra and so-called “betting influencers” offered lucrative “prop bets” based on so-called “faces” known to have participated in rigged card games or inside information about professional athletes, injuries and more.
But they were just like, “Shock! Shock!” They discover that gambling is happening right under their noses.
Of course, there are no greater social justice warriors in America than those who run professional sports. The NFL, NBA, and MLB have spent the past decade competing to wake each other up, funding DEI bureaucracies and cutting checks to Black Lives Matter. They imposed gender quotas in hiring, requiring teams to interview women for coaching positions.
They pose as enlightened visionaries reshaping American culture for the better. The dirty secret is that those same good people are fostering one of the most destructive habits in American life and unknowingly giving rise to organized crime.
In fact, no NFL players have been named, but my sources say it’s only a matter of time for all the reasons mentioned above.
Yes, only a willfully ignorant person would be shocked by all this. This is why I laughed out loud at Silver and Goodell’s reactions. Both men are among the highest-paid executives in corporate America, with Silver earning $10 million a year. Goodell’s is six times that.
