I understand why you would not want athletes to throw games on purpose if they place a large bet for the opposing team to win, however let’s say I am a pitcher in baseball, and I place a bet for my own team to win, wouldn’t that only motivate me to play better because I stand to win more money by doing so?
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We don’t want insider trading. NFL players have information not available to the public.
Lets say a RB on your team has low odds to hit a certain amount of yards. You know the other RB has an undisclosed injury and he’s going to be on limited snaps, and you take the bet.
A little less devious, your team has an under over on passing yards. You know your coach likes the passing matchups, and is going to run less than the public thinks. You make the bet.
Now lets say you can only bet on your team to win. Your star QB has been out a few weeks, and the public dosen’t know when he will return. You know that he’s going to actually play this week and take the bet to win.
Another thing is you don’t want bets to influence how they play. Let’s imagine you have a QB who places a bet on themselves to hit a certain amount of yards. The game is on the line and he’s close to the bet. The run is the better play on the RPO but he keeps the ball to make the bet happen. It results in a worse game and a worse viewing experience.
You could maybe figure out ways to prevent all of this, but why not just ban betting on NFL games all together?
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