[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by LD84

And this is why gambling is so serious and not to be tolerated in any form by those who participate in sport.

Once you have fans doubting whether or not the product is genuine, then you risk losing them.

I think, if a silver lining was possible, that the scandals have been mostly on prop bets & insider info. Not outright fixing or losing games. So an optimistic view would feel safe that at least the final outcomes are legit. But a realist would never claim that is 100% certain.

And even before sports gambling became legal nationally, I was a realist. I am by no means a conspiracy theorist. I've always felt someone out there had to be in cahoots w/gamblers & mafiosos. So none of what we heard this week shocked me. But the more reports come out, the more my faith in the integrity of the final outcome is eroded.

However, I still don't prescribe to the notion that there is a league wide conspiracy to fix outcomes for specific teams. Because they are from a large market or they have the most popular player. I do believe college conferences will "protect" teams that are highly ranked or are on the bubble for the post season.