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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It’s much easier to make a ban that says players can’t bet than it is to ban players betting against themselves. As someone else mentioned, there are many bets beside “my team to win.” There are bets that a team will score a certain number of points, or that one team will score first, or that the most scoring will occur within a certain time frame. With all the different types of betting available, it could get very complicated to determine if the player was trying to sway an outcome and whether that outcome is detrimental to their team. For example, you’re a quarterback, and you place a bet that the first score will be a TD. First drive of the game, you end up 4th and inches. Does the QB pressure the coach to go for it instead of kicking a field goal? Is he hurting his team if they go for it and get the TD? What if they go for it an don’t make it? Should the QB get in trouble because the play did or did not work out? Much easier to just say “no betting.”
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