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?
In: 1352
Answer: What if, in sports that track *how many* points you win by, and use that to determine team standing, playoff seed, and the like…the possibilities for shenanigans are many, and adversely affect game play, and standings for *other teams*, and bring the whole sport into question.
If I’m betting on my team for an over/under saying we’ll *win*, but by -2.5 points, I’ll do everything to stay in the “under”. Because, *money*. Maybe I’ll not strike out *that* batter, but *the other one* instead? “Accidentally” miss catching that fly ball to let that batter get another attempt instead of being out, to keep it close?
But what if my team needs to win by 3 or over to achieve a playoff/special tournament placement/seed/position, or place *above* another team in rankings, or gain “home field” advantage or “bye” periods? You can see the conflict of interest, here. Instead of playing my best, and trying to win, regardless, I’m “fine-tuning” the game, which could *lose me the game* (if I’m holding back, the other team may pull off an upset), or affect where my entire team wants to be (seeds, position, tournament), or allow *another team* to place better than they should have if I were playing “full on”.
Athletes betting on their own or other teams opens up all kinds of fuckery to the mechanics of the game, and to the standings of their and other teams. No good for anyone.
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