College point shaving indictments

[JustbrewitMan]

This could nuke the sport. The market of fans interested in buying tickets to or watching a scripted basketball or football game is pretty small.

WWF/WWE have made billions on the model you’re describing ;-)

 

[freescooter]

Just the tip of the iceberg, it's everywhere in sports.

Meanwhile you still can't go anywhere without sports gambling being thrown in your face.

There is a freaking casino in the PBA for Pete’s sake. There are sports talk shows on virtually every sports network about how to beat the bookies ( hint you can’t but those guys get paid to teach you anyway.).

 

[Donyell 360]

This could nuke the sport. The market of fans interested in buying tickets to or watching a scripted basketball or football game is pretty small.

I agree it is a serious problem but nuke the sport sounds a bit dramatic. That would require a far greater level of scripting than what this seem to involve. Only those who bet on sports care about these types of trivial outcomes like point spreads, overs, unders, individual stats, etc. True fans care about wins and losses. But the blue bloods care too much about winning and losing to be tempted by this.

I wonder too if the NIL money will help reduce the temptation. More money will always be a temptation for some, but it must at least curtail it somewhat, right? My guess is the ones being targeted are not making NIL money. But how much influence do they have on an outcome? There is a pretty small number who make no NIL and yet can change an outcome, particularly at the blue bloods.

 

[John]

I love watching you make a fool of yourself, it never gets old.

it's fun watching you struggle with anger management.

 

[Donyell 360]

Too bad we've already played DePaul twice. It would be a fun in-game contest to see who can identify the point shavers!

 

[Durks07]

I would like to nominate you for the best profile picture. Sad Husky on the CT flag is awesome

 

[Donyell 360]

WWF/WWE have made billions on the model you’re describing ;-)

I'm picturing Hurley's asking Any Katz after the SH game: "Can smell what the Rock is cooking! Because I can't!"

 

[ec33]

it's really not - gambling has nuked programs, so why not an entire sport.

People aren't going to stop watching UConn basketball because the outcome of the Fordham/LaSalle game might be rigged.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I'd actually be surprised if there wasn't as much, or more, shaving going on in the women's game.

I'm just gonna leave this one alone.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I agree it is a serious problem but nuke the sport sounds a bit dramatic. That would require a far greater level of scripting than what this seem to involve. Only those who bet on sports care about these types of trivial outcomes like point spreads, overs, unders, individual stats, etc. True fans care about wins and losses. But the blue bloods care too much about winning and losing to be tempted by this.

I wonder too if the NIL money will help reduce the temptation. More money will always be a temptation for some, but it must at least curtail it somewhat, right? My guess is the ones being targeted are not making NIL money. But how much influence do they have on an outcome? There is a pretty small number who make no NIL and yet can change an outcome, particularly at the blue bloods.

Yes, there's a reason that these things are hard to detect -- they rarely impact the kind of outcomes that fans care about, i.e. wins and losses.

 

[mussels]

Newsflash: College sports is crooked. Always has been, always will be.

You can go back 50 years to players getting bags of money, girls, cars, etc. NIL helped with some of that, but I'm sure there is squishy NIL and non-NIL situations nowadays. You have recruiting violations, contacting players outside the rules. Coaches in cahoots with scumbag sneaker reps and agents. Players committing serious legal crimes (drunk driving, sexual allegations, etc) and somehow that getting swept under the rug.

The marketing of college sports is great with the yeah-rah-rah good ol' fashioned Americana playing to the masses...but make no mistake, it's always been and always will have a slimy undercurrent.

That’s true, but many of us feel that the advent of highly promoted legal sports betting, availailabe 24/7 on everybodys phone has supercharged things.

 

[ec33]

I'm just gonna leave this one alone.

But it is rather tempting.

 

[TheShot1990]

WWF/WWE have made billions on the model you’re describing ;-)

Wait, that's not real?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I agree it is a serious problem but nuke the sport sounds a bit dramatic. That would require a far greater level of scripting than what this seem to involve. Only those who bet on sports care about these types of trivial outcomes like point spreads, overs, unders, individual stats, etc. True fans care about wins and losses. But the blue bloods care too much about winning and losing to be tempted by this.

I wonder too if the NIL money will help reduce the temptation. More money will always be a temptation for some, but it must at least curtail it somewhat, right? My guess is the ones being targeted are not making NIL money. But how much influence do they have on an outcome? There is a pretty small number who make no NIL and yet can change an outcome, particularly at the blue bloods.

If scripted outcomes are good, why doesn’t every sport just script the game?

 

[Donyell 360]

If scripted outcomes are good, why doesn’t every sport just script the game?

Read my post again. I didn't say scripting games was good. I literally began the post saying, "I agree it is a serious problem..."

 

[freescooter]

Too bad we've already played DePaul twice. It would be a fun in-game contest to see who can identify the point shavers!

If you go to Robin Hood they’d probably let you set up a line on it . Oh, excuse me, a market on it. That’s how crazy betting has become.

 

[navery12]

Out of curiosity, if DePaul was shaving points, how would anyone notice?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Read my post again. I didn't say scripting games was good. I literally began the post saying, "I agree it is a serious problem..."

Events are not binary. 100% of people don't need to dislike something for it to fail. Sometimes all it takes are 10 or 20% of people to abandon something for it to enter a doom loop. Do you think 20% of fans would abandon the sport if it was scripted?

 

[7774]

This is actually a positive for the sport. This stuff has always happened, and we’re in a transition period where people still believe they can get away with it, but they’re going to figure out they can never outsmart the data and algorithms, and then a lot of this will be minimized.

 

[mussels]

This is actually a positive for the sport. This stuff has always happened, and we’re in a transition period where people still believe they can get away with it, but they’re going to figure out they can never outsmart the data and algorithms, and then a lot of this will be minimized.

Yes. Because as we all know, young men always act rationally.

 

[7774]

Yes. Because as we all know, young men always act rationally.

Well which scenario do you think will result in more rational behavior? When no one ever gets caught, or when people get caught? Obviously it will never be eliminated.

 

[superjohn]

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Putting that much on the first half of a MAC game is begging to get caught.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Does "affected" mean that the crooked players are on those teams, or that those teams played in games where point-shaving occurred?

It could be both but my BET its the latter

 

[Fishy]

Putting that much on the first half of a MAC game is begging to get caught.

That's the insane part.

You're gonna put six figures on props bets involving Tulane basketball?

Just drive yourself to the FBI office.