The Notre Dame fan sat down in his seat to finally enjoy his team’s victory over Purdue last month. The Fighting Irish were winning comfortably, 27-13, late in the fourth quarter of the game in South Bend.
I didn’t share his satisfaction as disappointed Boilermaker fans began leaving the visitor section of the stadium. Notre Dame’s two touchdown lead wasn’t enough for my sports wager on the nationally ranked team, which needed to win by 8 points. If Purdue scored a garbage touchdown late in the game, Notre Dame would still win but I would lose.
My $25 nine-game parlay bet could win me $576 by the end of that Saturday. The Notre Dame win, against the spread, was my biggest concern among the nine college football games on my betting ticket. Later that night I would sweat out a nail-biter Clemson victory to win the bet, by far my biggest win since Indiana legalized sports betting in 2019.
Near the end of the game, Notre Dame fans began celebrating the team’s eighth straight victory over Purdue, as well as head coach Brian Kelly’s 105th win, tying him with Knute Rockne for the most victories in program history.
“We got this game now!” one fan yelled from behind us in the south side of the stadium.
No, we don’t, I told my fiance, who didn’t fully understand the point-spread ramifications of a 14-point victory versus a 7-point win. The latter result would lose me $551. I would likely leave the stadium more bummed than all those Purdue fans heading back to West Lafayette.
This is what sports betting can do to a sports fan. It forces you to realign your priorities about the games you’ve enjoyed for most of your life. I no longer just root for one team over another team, whether it’s college or professional football. I now root for teams that I have no emotional connection with, for purely selfish, greedy reasons.
At the Notre Dame-Purdue game, the only reason I rooted for the Irish was for my sports bet. If I picked Purdue (+7.5 points), I would have become a Boilermaker fan that day. This is the curse of sports betting, and the problem about rooting for teams based on gambling, not gamesmanship. Or loyalty. Or tradition.
I learned this lesson with my first legal sports bet Sept. 5, 2019, at the FanDuel Sportsbook at Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City. I stood in line behind Hall of Fame Bears’ linebacker Brian Urlacher to place a wager on the Bears (-3 points) over the Packers. I bet with my heart, not my head. I lost that $20 bet.
Never again would I wager my money on my favorite teams, I told myself. And I haven’t. Trouble is, my head is just as misguided as my heart. I’ve lost more sports bets than I’ve won these past three years. Fortunately, my small amount of parlay bet wins have made up for all the losses.
I’ve used four sportsbook apps on my smartphone to place bets. I haven’t placed a bet inside a casino since I lost that Bears wager at the Blue Chip. I’d much rather gamble from my bed at 2 a.m. than spend time with rabid sports fans at a smoky, noisy casino. Mobile betting accounts for more than 80% of sports betting revenue, so I’m not alone.
“A lot of people still don’t want to travel and be in crowds, and sports betting from their couch is very attractive to them,” said Jay Kornegay, vice president of the Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas, in an Associated Press story. “You can bet 10 bucks and be entertained for three hours.”
This describes me perfectly.
More than 45 million Americans are betting on NFL games this season, an increase of 36% from last year, according to the American Gaming Association. More than half of the United States now offers legal sports betting, just three years after it was allowed by the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s taken off just as everyone expected.
“The explosive growth of the industry comes as more and more companies join the fray,” The Associated Press story states. “And it is making things worse for some people with gambling problems, as the industry is coming up with new ways to bet on sports, including live micro-betting on the outcome of things like the next possession in a football game.”
Yep, I’ve tried that, too. Every sportsbook I use asks bettors the same repeated question: “Gambling problem?”
I repeatedly dismiss it and chuckle. I don’t have a gambling problem. I place bets only during the football season, my favorite season next to summer. The first year, I won some money. The second year, I lost some money. This year, I’m up so far but only because of that long-shot parlay bet (thanks Notre Dame!).
After the Super Bowl earlier this year, I again stopped betting on all my sportsbooks. I closed them out, cashed them out, and called it another betting season. One of the apps, BetMGM, wasn’t as responsive as I wanted. Its automated system closed my account faster if I checked on “problem gambler,” so I clicked on it. Impatience is another vice of mine for another column.
My problem was that I had just lost every bet I placed on the Kansas City Chiefs (thanks to Tom Brady). I didn’t think anything of it until I tried reopening my account this football season. BetMGM wouldn’t accept my $100 deposit. I couldn’t believe it.
“Considering your previous comments and following our Responsible Gaming Policy, we believe that it would be irresponsible to reopen your account at this time,” an email reply stated.
I was simultaneously disappointed and impressed. I didn’t think these casinos actually followed up on its “problem gambling” campaigns. I would have bet $25 that BetMGM would have reopened my account no questions asked. Seriously.
But only if the odds were in my favor.
