Apparently there's a gambling disconnect between real and fantasy games such that it's OK to construct and essentially bet on fantasy teams that represent real results of real players in real games. That's the legal loophole in most states through which sports leagues that oppose real gambling on their real games have driven through with a vengeance. But has their greed blinded them to all too obvious questions?
Are players, managers and coaches allowed to participate, i.e., gamble on fantasy games played by fantasy teams whose results are derived from the performances of those same players, managers and coaches?
Major League Baseball "an investor in the “daily fantasy sports” website DraftKings". Sunday, July 26, 2015
reader comment:
Did Pete Rose simply choose the wrong time and medium to fuel his habits outside of baseball?
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DraftKings gets more money from Major League Baseball. Monday, July 27, 2015
Major League Baseball, Inc. and a Yankees business entity have invested in DraftKings.
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Saturday Alex Rodriguez hit three home runs. Sunday Yankee manager Joe Girardi benched Rodriguez. Supposedly it was part of Girardi's planned rest schedule. Or was it to fit Girardi's daily picks with Drafkings? Who would know, especially if Girardi had someone else actually handle the transactions for him?
Isn't this exactly the kind of insider stuff that was so insidious about Pete Rose gambling on baseball games while Rose was manager of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1980s? If you'll pardon the double/double meaning: isn't it like Pete Rose on steroids?
In the last day while checking into what had been a completely unknown matter I stumbled onto many websites which offer advice on how to increase your chances of winning, including one that tries to help you parlay a three dollar investment into $100,000 in one day. Throughout the day the MLB Network has its paid employees, including former players, provide explicit advice on which players to take for your daily fantasy team.
The big money in sports today is driven by advertising money from TV. I have long held that the TV viewership was driven by gambling, especially for football and basketball, which unlike baseball, work on point spreads. However, this new form of baseball betting, rather than relying on the odds of a team winning, allows betting on individual performances more specifically that football or basketball can. It's because of the nature of baseball: it is composed of about 100 discreet events (hits, outs, etc.) in every game, which can be categorized and quantified and turned into plausible outcomes.
During football and basketball seasons there might be 30 games on TV at the same time. I figured that those games were monitored by gamblers checking on their bets, not by actual team fans. Now baseball can trump that with gamblers checking on individual players. Those official reviews and official scorer decisions take on much more importance with money riding on the outcome. A person into fantasy baseball with money to be made may be inclined to follow his/her players of the day. That would require an MLB TV package at extra cost.
And what about team management and ownership? Are they allowed to participate in fantasy baseball? In this fantasy world it doesn't matter if your favorite player changes teams before the trading deadline as long as he continues to play.
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