First an introduction - here in the UK, soccer is by far our best-supported sport.
I’ve followed Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) for 60 years.
Currently they are 4th in the top League (the Premiership) with one round of matches to go. Staying 4th is huge because Spurs then qualify for the European Champions League next season, which would mean:
they earn tens of millions (in prize money, TV money and packed stadiums for every match)
they keep their top players happy with prestigious opponents
they can attract new players before the new season starts
Now Spurs traditional rivals are another club from North London … Arsenal. They are lying 5th and are the only team that can overtake Spurs for 4th.
However Spurs would have to lose their last match and Arsenal win theirs for this horrible outcome to happen.
So the bookies rightly give odds of 18-1 that Spurs lose out.
(If you’ve read this far, well done! )
Now we (finally) come to my point.
As a supporter, suppose I bet £50 on Arsenal to come 4th. I actually want to lose (since then Spurs are in Europe )
But if the worse happens, I’m up £900!
In your opinion, is that silly?
(Please be gentle!)
More importantly, what if the Spurs management place a £1,000,000 bet on Arsenal?
(I realise they might not get the full 18-1 odds with such a large bet.)
So from the Spurs management’s point of view, either:
Spurs come 4th and earn tens of millions (plus happy players)
Spurs get £18,000,000
Here I ask you - do you think that bet is a) moral b) legal*
*I have no knowledge of what the management are up to and so don’t need actual legal advice. Just give your opinion whether it should be legal…
Placing a bet on a sporting event which you have the means to then control is always unethical, even if you don’t then exercise your ability.
Betting as a punter should be fun. If you think it’s more fun to have a bet that would cushion the blow of Arsenal getting a CL place then do it, if not don’t. This is completely up to the punter to decide how they feel.
There’s nothing unethical about hedging to reduce your exposure to uncertainty. In principle, it’s no different than (say) a farmer selling corn futures to lock in the current price.
The ethical (and possibly legal) questions arise when you are an “insider”, somebody in a position to influence the outcome. In this situation, the management may have no intention of trying to throw the game so that their bet can win, but it still creates the appearance of impropriety.
You would be better off just having the £50 on Norwich at 13-1 with 10bet. Tottenham could then lose, a necessary part of missing 4th spot and winning you £650, easing your breaking heart. But Arsenal could draw, or even lose to Everton, thus failing to overtake Spurs. So you win again.
I agree - but note that both myself and the Spurs management want to lose the bet, so will encourage our team to do their best.
Maybe we should both just bet on Arsenal to win (since we have no control over that game.)
I say! That’s crafty.
As a chessplaying former computer programmer, I like the way you cover all the possibilities.
Mind you, the chance of Arsenal winning 16-0 is probably less than Leicester City winning the League (they did so, with starting odds of 5,000-1.)
It doesn’t really matter what the favoured outcome is, placing a bet when you’re in a position to influence the result is still unethical.
A tennis player betting on himself to win might seem fine, (he should be trying to win anyway right?) but it gives him an incentive to tank a few games before he strikes his bet, to drive the price up. Same with any scenario where the better can exert an undue influence on the result.
Not at all! I think it’s a fun way to hedge your interest in the sport, particularly with long odds. A modest bet that you won’t mind losing offers a big payout if your team falls down.
It is ostensibly a simple financial hedge. However, the integrity of sport demands that insiders avoid betting on the outcome of their own games. I’d guess that it might not run afoul of the law, but may be against the contractual agreements they have as owners of a team.
You have my full support. I once knew an Arsenal supporter and the first four letters of the club he supported painted a fairly accurate picture of him. I think gleefully of him every time I read that Arsenal loses.
That, OTOH, would be illegal. Footballers are not allowed to bet on football games, the management much less. There sure are legal ways to hedge against not getting a CL slot.
Well, you could perhaps get some perspective, see how the other half lives, so to speak, by reading Fever Pitch. It’s the best book that I have read about being a sports fan, although an Arsenal one.
It may be quicker to watch the original movie with Colin Firth, which is pretty good, considering that the book has no plot, and features this exchange:
Sarah : Paul, it’s only a game!
Paul : DON’T SAY THAT! Please! That is the worst, most stupid thing anyone could say! Cause it quite clearly isn’t “only a game.” I mean if it was do you honestly think I’d care this much? Eh? Eighteen years! Eight-teen years! Do you know what you wanted eighteen years ago? Or ten? Or five? Did you want to be Head of Year at North London Comprehensive, I doubt it. I’d doubt if you wanted anything for that long. And if you had, and if you’d spent three months thinking that finally, FINALLY you were gonna get it and just when you think it’s there it’s taken away from you… I mean I don’t care what it is, a car, a job, an Oscar, the baby… then you’d understand how I was feeling tonight. But there isn’t, and you don’t, so…
I have indeed read ‘Fever Pitch’ and completely agree with your assessment!
For us fans of Tottenham (and indeed the England soccer team*): it’s not the despair that hurts (I can cope with the despair) … it’s the hope I can’t stand.
*I watched them on TV live in 1966 … and since then
Stephen Hawking famously bet against Kip Thorne that black holes don’t exist. Both had heavily invested their careers in the existence of black holes, and so both wanted Thorne to win the bet, but Hawking wanted a consolation prize in case they didn’t, while Thorne wanted to live dangerously.
Thorne has actually made quite a number of idiosyncratic bets of this sort. So far, he’s lost every single one that included any human element (including betting on how long it would take for him to write a book for laypeople), and won every single one that didn’t.
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