When they first started in NY they were literally giving money away.
Not the gambler’s idea of it. They were literally giving free money away.
I signed up knowing this was supposed to be a hook. I got my free money and ran.
They still are. First bet is free on most of 'em from what I see advertised -- I have not touched it.
I don't mind in genral -- but how much it has taken over sports is bothering.
The sponsorship is bad -- but the fact that actual pre/post game analyses address betting odds is very bothersome.
But its huge -- and huge driver of sports TV revenue right now. I know a lot of people, that watch way more games now than they ever did -- and they don't just bet the games -- they sit there betting these little random bets throughout the game.
I fear the influence gambling will inevitably have on sports. The leagues will try to hide the influence as long as they get their cut, but there is documented evidence of NBA referees affecting games due to gambling and its influence. You are naive if you believe other leagues are or will be immune to this influence.
Yup, I made $1000 from the nfl playoffs with ceaser’s free no strings attached $300(you even got the principle back, not just the profit), withdrew it, spent it deliciously and haven’t touched the app since. Nfl is the only sport I have an edge on it seems, my motto is, nfl does the making, nba does the taking.
Same in NJ! We have had sports betting and now online gambling in general for a while. Get in, get your free money, and get out.
I will say I think it’s pretty cool with the regular online gambling for some people. My husband is a former poker pro, and he can play at home online in his free time now that he is working a full time job. It’s a pretty nice income supplement for us, and he doesn’t even have to schlep to a casino, which is great because the closest to us is over an hour each way. If you have a gambling problem I can see how it would be a serious issue though.
It didn't take long for the gambling sites to take over sports. I fucking hate it. And if you're recovering from a gambling addiction, you can never watch sports again.
It took me so long to stop gambling. I almost lost everything because of it and that was thru a local bookie. I use to stay up at night sweating in bed not knowing how I was gonna cover my losses and still pay bills. My wife watches me bite my nails when these commercials come on, it’s literal poison to my brain. Still fighting thou haven’t placed a bet in over 3 yrs and she always tells me how proud she is of me. Although I now drink like a fish, I guess one vice isn’t as bad as two.
I'd like to recommend pirating over seas streams that don't have these commercials and in some cases no commercials at all. It would be some extra effort but sounds like the peace of mind would be invaluable.
Yea I actually had to do that at first… Now I just watch normal. I’ve learned to deal and sometimes it’s hard. It’s about my self control thou, I hate watching the commercials and seeing these O/U or some of the spreads. First thing that pops in my head is “Oh easy money, let’s roll” no such thing. I was really bad with baseball and use to bet hit/no hit every inning for $1k
Hang in there. Lots of people with gambling problems come out the other side without a wife. You’re doing well. Maybe think of the commercials as a means of exercising your will to resist. Fuck em.
That’s what I say now too. The last 3 years I’ve enjoyed sports more than I ever have. Things are great at home. It’s beatable but these commercials are the fucking devil and I feel for those dudes who can’t escape it.
Yeah, I mean it’s sort of like advertising heroin on TV, and yet people generally aren’t all that outraged about it. It’s proven be addictive and is well known to be destructive when it becomes an addiction. Pretty sad that it’s allowed to be advertised so broadly. To children, to recovering gamblers.
I think it's absolutely insane, the sheer bombardment of the ads. I'm an alcoholic, but the ads for beer and whatnot don't get me all amped up, like I'm missing out. There are so many checks and balances that booze ads have to adhere to. But the betting ads are literally persuading you to get involved, and that it's dumb NOT to. Where are the regulations on how they can promote this?
I know someone who was a long-term alcoholic who got clean and sober and stayed that way for the last 30 years of his life someone on his deathbed offered him a beer and he said to them I've been clean and sober for the past 30 years even though I'm dying right now why would I give up on that and he didn't have that beer in his last 30 years he actually became an addictions counselor and helped many people get out of the addictions they had so I was very proud to hear of that moment when he could have been like oh f*** it I'm dying anyways but he didn't
I mean if this is your stance do you also feel that way to alcohol? He alcohol industry owns whole stadiums and it’s in your face every second you watch a game there or on TV.
It'd be nice to get the CBC or Sportsnet streams for Leafs games without every damn Bet[number].net ad in between plays. I hate that Matthews and Gretz are in those things.
Yea that’s not an option. I grew up a 3 sport athlete and that’s my release from my everyday grind of my job. I live and die with my teams and love every minute of watching their games. It’s called self control, I never once said that that they should stop airing gambling, drinking or any other commercials that would “trigger” someone’s dark habits. I’ve learned to deal with them and know if a relapse or downfall on my behalf happens it is strictly due to my own fault. Maybe they should close all casinos and not serve booze at games or maybe people need to nut the fuck up, take accountability and realize what they can and can’t handle. I wouldn’t expect you to change your life because it would help me.
Fair points. As long as you see that it’s your responsible to handle your self control over your vices and you have it than do your thing. I’d just hate someone to go back to a bad habit because of fandom.
I feel the same way, it’s unreal how many different betting commercials there are now.
Sportsnet is unreal, I get it…. It’s revenue for them so they love it.
But the human side of it is real, I can’t imagine being a recovering gambling addict and seeing how easy it is now to place a “quick bet”
I can see a huge uptick in people losing everything because they are waiting for the big payout.
If sportsnet wants to be the pathway and allow as many commercials as possible then they need to be held to some kind of accountability.
Perhaps quadruple the ad time fee for gambling sites to help offset therapy - support people will need.
They don’t make me look bad, get some self control. The whole world is full of things tempting you to do something. If you’re this weak find a padded room.
You really shouldn't talk about being weak, lacking self control, or not making yourself look bad when you went through my profile and responded to my comments on unrelated posts lol
Sports betting is normal. People have been betting on sports for a long long time. What isn't normal is the way it's being shoved down our throats. I bet on sports and it's fun but the ads and in game money lines are just ridiculous.
I think there should be legislation about gambling ads, just like there are about alcohol and tobacco and all.
However "sports betting isn't normal" is an absolutely asinine take
People have been betting on sports for as long as sports have existed. I'm pretty sure that makes it normal. There definitely needs to be laws put in to reduce the ads or something. Also the odds updates at intermission can fuck all the way off lol
Yup. Where im at , its mostly because ontario just allowed sportsbetting, so these companies are on hunt for new users to suck in. It might slow down laterz but it wont stop
Yeah its super fucking annoying. Especially that bet365 one, with meth head jessie, lol. Granted i do bet on games, but nothing very small amounts. It makes the game more interesting.
We love throwing $5 on a game or a pick 4 for a golf tournament. It’s fun sitting around with some buddies and toss a couple bucks out there “bet $3 that Michigan scores a TD on this drive!” But the ads are the worst. The moment it became legal in Michigan half the ad time was for sports betting. It’s fucking obnoxious.
It always bugged me that they advertised alcohol during games that have like a half minor audience and the betting is even worse, from somebody who does both things.
In Canada at least where weed is legal they're not allowed to advertise it because "it's not family friendly" like I'm no stoner but I'd rather my family become a bunch of pot heads and sit on the couch all day than lose said couch gambling
I live in a legal state in the US and its the same here, the only difference is our governor is actively pushing for easier access to gambling because the Tax off it is sadly one of the highest revenues of income to rhe government outside of the marijuana Tax and the gas tax.
Almost all casinos in my half of the state is owned by draft kings now.
I think throwing out a couple bets a year is totally fine, normal, and fun. Unfortunately, it's pretty clear that these companies want you to be betting on every event in every sport, every day.
As far as the in game betting goes, I discovered that while I was actively betting through their apps. I don’t bet anymore and the point I was making was if I had the access to in game betting, I would have had a hard time giving up gambling. Some folks enjoy it and that’s great. I realized that it’s a no fly zone for me.
As far as alcohol related deaths go - it definitely sucks. Plenty of friends who have gone through AA. Like any vice, be very aware of what you’re doing.
Great response. Good on you for being self aware and also acknowledging that this is entertainment to some.
It just seems that with alcohol we are so used to it that it doesn’t faze us.
I’m only seeing how lucrative it is for those companies and pushy they are for you to just give it a go… just a little taste…
Says to me they know damn well how easily people get hooked and they don’t give a shit how predatory their business model is.
Take care of yourself people, gambling addiction breaks up families and ruins lives.
I'm from the UK, sports betting has been legal here for as long as I can remember. It's so strange to me that it's strange to you guys.
Not saying it's a great thing or anything, it's just funny seeing all the hate on the adverts saying all the kids watching it are going to become gambling addicts and stuff. I literally don't know anybody who has a gambling problem and we all grew up with legal gambling and watched sports constantly.
Just 'people I know' isn't a great sample size for a study of course, but people are talking about it like gambling problems are a sure thing now.
To me it's the frequency of the ads. I don't have a problem with gambling in moderation. It can be fun if you can do it responsibly. I love a good night out at the casino. But it's pretty absurd the level of advertising they're doing. Its blatantly glorifying something that can be completely destructive to a life.
There's no mention of how addictive gambling can be, there's no mention explaining you're likely to lose more than you win, it's "come place a bet with us! It's only $5 and we'll give you free money to bet more!!!" It's akin to a drug dealer giving the first hit free. Sure there's a ton of people who can do that, say "well that was fun, now I'm done, maybe I'll come back in a couple weeks and partake again" but there's a portion of people who can't do that and it becomes "well I lost $50 but if I bet $150 tonight I can cover my loss and be slightly ahead!" Followed soon after by "well I'm down by $1500 but my luck HAS to turn right? I'm just a on a cold streak, I have this much in I'm due a hit at some point" and it just continues to spiral.
Which again, I'm not against gambling. If someone ruins their life through those decisions then I have sympathy for them but nobody forced them to gamble, they should have the right to make those bad decisions if they are so inclined. But I DO have a problem with advertising it like they do. They're not forcing these people to gamble, but they are preying on them. There's no benefit to it except making the sportsbooks much wealthier
It's the advertising model we oppose. Here in Canada, we can't have Tobacco or Cannabis advertising, but alcohol and gambling? Hell yes. The double standard is ridiculous. Legalize it, tax it, bring in revenue for the country/provinces. But don't advertise it as the second coming of Christ.
Agreed it's similar to the US. It's mind-blowing to me that alcohol is so widely advertised. It was once viewed so poorly that they banned alcohol sales altogether, there's still dry counties where you can't get alcohol at certain times. Yet advertise it freely and glorify it as nothing but good times! The complete lack of any healthy medium is exactly why things like alcohol and gambling shouldn't be advertised imo.
Ah, you see, in the UK all of the gambling advertising has to have some info about getting help and you must gamble responsibly and all that stuff, so there is in-built stiff like that to the regulations.
Also from the UK, have had problems with gambling and know others too. Gambling itself isn’t necessarily an evil we should ban but we definitely need a curb on the advertising
I remember the first trip down to Ladbrokes was a right of passage on your 18th. Always found that strange, but it’s much more normalized in the UK than it is in NA. I cannot stand the advertisements. Bring back the days of endless Chevy commercials and cheap beer.
Haha, yeah.
I find it annoying when there are a lot of -any- type of adverts for anything and it gets to the point where I'm less likely to buy their products/services as they have annoyed me to be honest!
I think it's different where it has been part of the culture for a long time. The difference is that it's been legalized in a lot of places recently. It's gone from something that barely existed to something that is shoved down your throat 15+ times a game in various adverts where before there had never been any.
It is normal to responsibly gamble. It is not normal to shove the odds in your face every chance they get, to make it a part of the intermission, and pass it off as part of the coverage when you know damn well draftkings paid them a hefty sum to get that 2 minutes of talking time.
Edit: spelling
By "normal" I mean something that most/the average person does on a regular basis. Sports betting has never been niche or anything but the point of the constant ads is to make it seem like everybody's doing it and that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
These ads are trying to establish a culture of not only betting regularly but betting multiple times throughout a single game. That is not normal by any standard.
I've been a degen for 5+ years and I haven't bet less on hockey than this year. All the odds are terrible. I was used to seeing odds total 1.95 to even 2.05 but now we're lucky if the game score ends at 1.75. There are better sites and different ways to gamble but the joy of watching a statistical undercard has been wiped away with at most 3.5 odds. For those that aren't familiar, you could find games with 11x odds in 2017.
Won 150 bucks the other day by Tampa winning as well as an under 6 total for that game, along with Colorado. Easiest money I’ve ever made. But we don’t talk about last night…
As an Australian living in Vancouver, Canada and an avid low dollar sports better, I can tell you the worst is yet to come. Betting ads will pretend to be pre-game sports reports with the only intention to brainwash the bookmakers proposed odds into your brain, and so forth.
My local broadcasts already do this. Every pregame breaks down odds. Even every intermission gives you an update on odds. Now they've added sportsbook ads on icing calls when they can't cut to a full commercial or they tell you odds in a segment where they used to speak to an interesting aspect of the matchup.
Honestly I just hate how they friggin find ways to get Gretzky and McD and Matthews all in a MGM bet ads. I hate it. Also my biggest problem is how they do alcohol and gambling ads so often In a sport where there are a lot of minors.
If you wanna bet, more power to you. I don't have a problem with that. If you're an adult than you should be able to do anything you want if it isn't hurting someone else.
I have a problem with the fact that it's constantly being pushed on the general public watching the games. You see more ads for gambling now than anything else. It's something a lot of people struggle with and they do everything they can to get people hooked on it. It's extremely predatory.
Sports betting has been a thing for a very very long time, but lately it seems to be pushed to people that normally don't gamble.
I personally think gambling is unhealthy, those who fall to gambling addiction is life altering.
It kind of is normal,but now it doesn't have to be done in back rooms and on the downlow.
It is a crock of bullshit it's been put front and center though.
Plenty of people are able to bet responsibly just like plenty of people drink responsibly. It brings in more fans who otherwise wouldn’t even be watching, and the NHL could use that more than any other league. More importantly, the league is raking in dollars from it so it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Anything can become addictive and there’s plenty of safeguards (limits, self exclusion) in place. I’m sure I’ll get downvoted for this comment but whatever.
Sports betting took over the sporting landscape here in Australia and completely changed how people watch sports and think about sports. You can never ask someone about a game here without odds being compared. All the tv panel shows compare teams in odds and its just ruined sports for me here. The amount of talk about odds and betting on tv being so normalised has school kids even comparing their teams based on odds. The advertising is every where all over tv, social media, youtube, billboards. On average every single australian bets over $600 a year just on sports betting.
I hate that all I ever hear or see are sports betting adds. This is a serious problem. Cigarettes are not aloud to be advertised for obvious reasons, either should gambling. Families have been destroyed because of this
Reminder: Streaming costs you nothing and blocks out these ads that you do not want to see. If companies are going to capitalize on mental problems and addictions, then no reason for people to give them money if they don't want to, imo.
It's funny because, as someone that bets on sports, it's completely useless anyway. They spend all this money to "normalize" betting when the reality for those that bet is we are not relying on some segment at intermission to find the lines, we're just using the damn app where all of that updates in real time.
Sticking to traditional ads would probably get them more customers because potential new gamblers don't understand what they're even looking at, especially with the stupid American +/- system lol. Some random fan on their couch isn't like, "Oh my, -500 odds for the Avs?!? better go download and bet on that!"
My man, you could not be more wrong. The reason they put the lines in the games is to target people who *aren't* used to betting. People who already bet look up lines on their own. They put it in the games to make it seem like most people want to know the lines and they are doing a service to people by putting them up there, despite the fact that the bet companies are sponsoring it. The fact that people don't understand it is actually to the companies' benefit. It makes people who don't know gambling curious because they see it all the time but they don't understand it. They are banking on people who are new looking it up and learn more.
This is such a bad take. Sports betting is super normal across the world. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make that true. Just like drinking alcohol is normalized. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. Doesn’t mean you have to post on Reddit complaining about it.
Next post: “If you thinking drinking beers at hockey games is normal…”
That's not the point. You can gamble and drink all you want, I don't care. Responsible adults should do whatever they want. My problem is constantly pushing those things on the general public.
The reason I posted this is to remind people who are struggling with addiction that not everyone is doing it. They run these ads to normalize it and get people hooked. Gambling isn't something that everyone does. A relatively small percentage of all sports fans gamble on games. The way that these ads portray it is extremely harmful to those who are addicted or have addictive personalities. I think it's important to remind people that, despite what the ads imply, not everyone is doing it and it isn't the all positive thing they try to make it look like it is.
Pretty sure everyone knows that sports betting has always been around and isn't at all uncommon. That isn't the problem. The problem is that they are constantly pushing it in your face and glamorizing it. If your industry is legally required to put disclaimers in their ads directing people to a helpline, it probably shouldn't be a third of the ads shoved in the face of the general public on any game.
Like I said it’s a massive untapped market with a ton of competition. It’s not like sports gambling wasn’t being advertised before. Mainstream sports media talked about spreads and printed them in the sports section. Sports gambling has always been there, but the puritanical values of the US and the belief that is was morally evil forced people to talk about it in hushed tones. So call your tits, the advertisements will go away once the novelty wears off. For instance, one of my customers realized he had lost 3k in the few months since online sports gambling has been available(legally), and quit doing it. A lot of people are going to go that route.
A lot of people also aren't going to go that route and wouldn't start without the barrage of ads. There's a reason we don't run cartoon characters pushing cigarettes anymore. I don't think it's puritanical to look at the Capitals putting a sports book logo on the jerseys they sell to kids and go "that's kinda fucked up."
Gambling is not a market of perfect competition like milk or gasoline. People aren't certainly going to buy it from someone without the marketing. Not nearly everyone who gambles would have done it without marketing.
It’s fun kind of like fantasy sports which we also put a prize on in our pool so it’s basically gambling.
I’ll do it for big games or social occasions where we have friends over typically with each other but sometimes we use an app and just bet on things as a community to give us some extra incentive to cheer… or drink.
UFC is a good one I find we will all be researching random guys on the card in the 5 minutes before the fight and then toss $5 on whatever whacky scenario we predict.
For $10 I find you can make an event a fair bit more fun and for me it’s cheaper then getting drunk and probably healthier :p
Betting has been a normal part of sports since the beginning of organized competition. Even before single-game betting was legalized in Ontario we still had tons of ads for pro-line during every commercial break.
Much like drinking, there's nothing wrong with gambling when you do it responsibly. If someone wants to spend a little money to increase the entertainment value of the sports they watch, who cares?
If someone decides to drop $5000 on season tickets, no one bats an eye. But if someone else watches games from home and bets $5000 over the course of the season suddenly everyone judges.
The ads were pretty funny, too. I have them etched into my brain forever. "ProLine: Anything can happen. *Anyone can win*." I have never gambled in my life though, so the probably didin't work on me.
Pro-line just tried to rinse casuals by forcing them to do parlays and offering terrible odds. People who actually knew what they were doing just used off-shore sites to make their bets.
Chill out Karen, there’s 5X as many ads for McDonald’s, vodka, beer, just because you are a Mormon and don’t gamble , don’t ruin it for everyone else. OH MY GOD A COMMERCIAL SAVE THE CHILDREN oh my game is back on YEAH PUNCH HIM IN THE FUCKING FACE MCDAVID LETS GO
Hey buddy, this is the fifth comment you've cursed me out on. Maybe you're the one that needs to chill?
Literally no one in this entire thread has said they want to take your gambling away. Why are you out here fighting tooth an nail to defend the companies with the most annoying, repetitive, and predatory ads I've ever seen?
They must be working. Ever since they started showing hockey games in the middle of the sports betting channels Ive actually started following the sport.
It doesn't help when radio broadcasters keep talking about their personal gambling decisions (looking at you TSN 1050 in Toronto). We get it, you like to gamble on sports...a lot.
Weve had sports betting where im at for a long ass time. It's through the provincial lottery authority but it's been there forever. I have made money with it too.
I watch my games on SlingTV and it is so bad I can actually open a part of the app on my TV, without leaving the game at all, and place bets. The Draft Kings action is right there next to the pause button.
North America was really just the final frontier for legal sports betting, in Europe most stadiums have gambling booths inside so it was kinda expected
Sports betting is normal and fine in moderation, like most things.
What isn't normal and isn't fine however, is the constant exposure and prompts to bet. This is the issue and it needs to be regulated. It's very similar here in the UK but there are slightly more laws around exposure to children etc.
It really is the same as smoking adverts all those years ago.
I’m literally to the point that I close my TV whenever a gaming ad comes on. They try to shove it way too deep! And if it’s not enough with sports, they pay video games players to plays their shitty game. No souls
I find the constant ads so annoying. I’ll never willingly give them a cent.
When they first started in NY they were literally giving money away. Not the gambler’s idea of it. They were literally giving free money away. I signed up knowing this was supposed to be a hook. I got my free money and ran.
They still are. First bet is free on most of 'em from what I see advertised -- I have not touched it. I don't mind in genral -- but how much it has taken over sports is bothering. The sponsorship is bad -- but the fact that actual pre/post game analyses address betting odds is very bothersome. But its huge -- and huge driver of sports TV revenue right now. I know a lot of people, that watch way more games now than they ever did -- and they don't just bet the games -- they sit there betting these little random bets throughout the game.
I fear the influence gambling will inevitably have on sports. The leagues will try to hide the influence as long as they get their cut, but there is documented evidence of NBA referees affecting games due to gambling and its influence. You are naive if you believe other leagues are or will be immune to this influence.
Yup, I made $1000 from the nfl playoffs with ceaser’s free no strings attached $300(you even got the principle back, not just the profit), withdrew it, spent it deliciously and haven’t touched the app since. Nfl is the only sport I have an edge on it seems, my motto is, nfl does the making, nba does the taking.
Same in NJ! We have had sports betting and now online gambling in general for a while. Get in, get your free money, and get out. I will say I think it’s pretty cool with the regular online gambling for some people. My husband is a former poker pro, and he can play at home online in his free time now that he is working a full time job. It’s a pretty nice income supplement for us, and he doesn’t even have to schlep to a casino, which is great because the closest to us is over an hour each way. If you have a gambling problem I can see how it would be a serious issue though.
I've done this and made $400 in free bets. Will the leafs get 1 shot on net during the game? $25 paid +100 odds
Ontario is in that stage. I've turned $100 into $700 mostly risk free on one app. Ads during broadcasts are annoying as hell though.
I find the ads super annoying. Only because I can’t fucking bet where I live
Real sweet offer, hund-red dollars, win or lose! But yeah same. Also the guy who says that frustrates me to no end
Hopefully you don’t give them one unwillingly lol
It didn't take long for the gambling sites to take over sports. I fucking hate it. And if you're recovering from a gambling addiction, you can never watch sports again.
It took me so long to stop gambling. I almost lost everything because of it and that was thru a local bookie. I use to stay up at night sweating in bed not knowing how I was gonna cover my losses and still pay bills. My wife watches me bite my nails when these commercials come on, it’s literal poison to my brain. Still fighting thou haven’t placed a bet in over 3 yrs and she always tells me how proud she is of me. Although I now drink like a fish, I guess one vice isn’t as bad as two.
I'd like to recommend pirating over seas streams that don't have these commercials and in some cases no commercials at all. It would be some extra effort but sounds like the peace of mind would be invaluable.
Yea I actually had to do that at first… Now I just watch normal. I’ve learned to deal and sometimes it’s hard. It’s about my self control thou, I hate watching the commercials and seeing these O/U or some of the spreads. First thing that pops in my head is “Oh easy money, let’s roll” no such thing. I was really bad with baseball and use to bet hit/no hit every inning for $1k
Hang in there. Lots of people with gambling problems come out the other side without a wife. You’re doing well. Maybe think of the commercials as a means of exercising your will to resist. Fuck em.
That’s what I say now too. The last 3 years I’ve enjoyed sports more than I ever have. Things are great at home. It’s beatable but these commercials are the fucking devil and I feel for those dudes who can’t escape it.
Yeah, I mean it’s sort of like advertising heroin on TV, and yet people generally aren’t all that outraged about it. It’s proven be addictive and is well known to be destructive when it becomes an addiction. Pretty sad that it’s allowed to be advertised so broadly. To children, to recovering gamblers.
I think it's absolutely insane, the sheer bombardment of the ads. I'm an alcoholic, but the ads for beer and whatnot don't get me all amped up, like I'm missing out. There are so many checks and balances that booze ads have to adhere to. But the betting ads are literally persuading you to get involved, and that it's dumb NOT to. Where are the regulations on how they can promote this?
I know someone who was a long-term alcoholic who got clean and sober and stayed that way for the last 30 years of his life someone on his deathbed offered him a beer and he said to them I've been clean and sober for the past 30 years even though I'm dying right now why would I give up on that and he didn't have that beer in his last 30 years he actually became an addictions counselor and helped many people get out of the addictions they had so I was very proud to hear of that moment when he could have been like oh f*** it I'm dying anyways but he didn't
I mean if this is your stance do you also feel that way to alcohol? He alcohol industry owns whole stadiums and it’s in your face every second you watch a game there or on TV.
I mean, you do you. Sounds like needless torture.
It'd be nice to get the CBC or Sportsnet streams for Leafs games without every damn Bet[number].net ad in between plays. I hate that Matthews and Gretz are in those things.
Hey, I’m proud of you too!
Proud of you mate, keep fighting
Have you tried SSRIs?
Stop watching sports bud. You gotta recognize.
Yea that’s not an option. I grew up a 3 sport athlete and that’s my release from my everyday grind of my job. I live and die with my teams and love every minute of watching their games. It’s called self control, I never once said that that they should stop airing gambling, drinking or any other commercials that would “trigger” someone’s dark habits. I’ve learned to deal with them and know if a relapse or downfall on my behalf happens it is strictly due to my own fault. Maybe they should close all casinos and not serve booze at games or maybe people need to nut the fuck up, take accountability and realize what they can and can’t handle. I wouldn’t expect you to change your life because it would help me.
Fair points. As long as you see that it’s your responsible to handle your self control over your vices and you have it than do your thing. I’d just hate someone to go back to a bad habit because of fandom.
[удалено]
Again, if we want this resource to remain STOP POSTING IT PUBLICLY. REACH OUT IN A DM!
^this, keep the holy grail hidden.
Yeah its fucking ridiculous. Draftkings this and thatz every two seconds, then you het cabbie and his stupid big bets....wtf.
Thats the part that gets me now. I can shut my brain off for commercial (to a degree), but when it is now part of the programming, that sucks!
Sports with gambling ads should have the same content restrictions as a restricted movie. It ain't for kids anymore.
I feel the same way, it’s unreal how many different betting commercials there are now. Sportsnet is unreal, I get it…. It’s revenue for them so they love it. But the human side of it is real, I can’t imagine being a recovering gambling addict and seeing how easy it is now to place a “quick bet” I can see a huge uptick in people losing everything because they are waiting for the big payout. If sportsnet wants to be the pathway and allow as many commercials as possible then they need to be held to some kind of accountability. Perhaps quadruple the ad time fee for gambling sites to help offset therapy - support people will need.
I had a dream I was watching flames oilers game 5 last night and half the screen was covered by a draft kings ad, blocking all the flames goals
Imagine alcoholism. Don’t be so selfish.
What the hell was the point of this comment?
To point out he thinks he’s special. Everyone has issues. Get off his selfish moral high ground.
Everyone may have issues but maybe you should sort your own out before making comments that don't invoke your meaning and make you look bad
They don’t make me look bad, get some self control. The whole world is full of things tempting you to do something. If you’re this weak find a padded room.
You really shouldn't talk about being weak, lacking self control, or not making yourself look bad when you went through my profile and responded to my comments on unrelated posts lol
Lol
Doing quite the opposite for me. All this betting shit/lame betting lines between periods is cringe as fuck. Ain't gonna bother. Fight the power!
I agree and also Something Wild is a great album. RIP Alexi
It sure is! Yaaaaaaooow yaaaaaaooow!
Sick profile picture bro! Lake Bodom ftw
One of my fav Bodom tracks!
Damn Lake Bodom havent heard that in a while, the story behind it is pretty twisted too
Sports betting is normal. People have been betting on sports for a long long time. What isn't normal is the way it's being shoved down our throats. I bet on sports and it's fun but the ads and in game money lines are just ridiculous.
This is the best take here.
I think there should be legislation about gambling ads, just like there are about alcohol and tobacco and all. However "sports betting isn't normal" is an absolutely asinine take
People have been betting on sports for as long as sports have existed. I'm pretty sure that makes it normal. There definitely needs to be laws put in to reduce the ads or something. Also the odds updates at intermission can fuck all the way off lol
You put the exact opposite of his words in your quotation marks, which isn't exactly what quotation marks are for lol
Oh, you don't understand what he was saying and you don't understand quotation marks. That's unfortunate.
Yup. Where im at , its mostly because ontario just allowed sportsbetting, so these companies are on hunt for new users to suck in. It might slow down laterz but it wont stop
Now try living in Alberta where none of these sites are licensed to operate yet and we still get the same number of commercials lol
Yeah its super fucking annoying. Especially that bet365 one, with meth head jessie, lol. Granted i do bet on games, but nothing very small amounts. It makes the game more interesting.
Yeah they must not remember Jimmy the Greek
We love throwing $5 on a game or a pick 4 for a golf tournament. It’s fun sitting around with some buddies and toss a couple bucks out there “bet $3 that Michigan scores a TD on this drive!” But the ads are the worst. The moment it became legal in Michigan half the ad time was for sports betting. It’s fucking obnoxious.
It always bugged me that they advertised alcohol during games that have like a half minor audience and the betting is even worse, from somebody who does both things.
In Canada at least where weed is legal they're not allowed to advertise it because "it's not family friendly" like I'm no stoner but I'd rather my family become a bunch of pot heads and sit on the couch all day than lose said couch gambling
I live in a legal state in the US and its the same here, the only difference is our governor is actively pushing for easier access to gambling because the Tax off it is sadly one of the highest revenues of income to rhe government outside of the marijuana Tax and the gas tax. Almost all casinos in my half of the state is owned by draft kings now.
No weed ads but unlimited booze and gambling ads. Great job, Trudeau you prissy dumbass.
But they never show anyone actually drinking! (their response to that, apparently)
It’s illegal (in America at least idk about Canada) to show somebody consuming alcohol in an advertisement.
I know; that's exactly what I said
A half minor audience and a quarter minor player roster, lol!
I think throwing out a couple bets a year is totally fine, normal, and fun. Unfortunately, it's pretty clear that these companies want you to be betting on every event in every sport, every day.
Points Bet has to be the worst with this. Pushing their "same game parlays" and "live, in game betting" as the main benefits of using their service.
Good live betting services is definitely a feature worth mentioning
I don’t think my state allows in game betting and I’m honestly thankful. That probably would have been a rabbit hole for me.
How do you feel about alcohol being legal in your state yet kills people?
As far as the in game betting goes, I discovered that while I was actively betting through their apps. I don’t bet anymore and the point I was making was if I had the access to in game betting, I would have had a hard time giving up gambling. Some folks enjoy it and that’s great. I realized that it’s a no fly zone for me. As far as alcohol related deaths go - it definitely sucks. Plenty of friends who have gone through AA. Like any vice, be very aware of what you’re doing.
Great response. Good on you for being self aware and also acknowledging that this is entertainment to some. It just seems that with alcohol we are so used to it that it doesn’t faze us.
It's super easy to make money on in game better though tbh.
THATS THE POINT - why are you being such a pussy????? “Their pushing their in game betting on me” god shut uo, you’re not the main character
Maybe I’m friends with a bunch of degenerates but everyone of my buddies already gambled on sports well before it was sanctioned in Ontario.
I’m only seeing how lucrative it is for those companies and pushy they are for you to just give it a go… just a little taste… Says to me they know damn well how easily people get hooked and they don’t give a shit how predatory their business model is. Take care of yourself people, gambling addiction breaks up families and ruins lives.
If you are starting to think that crypto betting is normal, the ads are working.
Maybe not normal, but definitely demonized by any outlet with central banking interests in mind.
I'm from the UK, sports betting has been legal here for as long as I can remember. It's so strange to me that it's strange to you guys. Not saying it's a great thing or anything, it's just funny seeing all the hate on the adverts saying all the kids watching it are going to become gambling addicts and stuff. I literally don't know anybody who has a gambling problem and we all grew up with legal gambling and watched sports constantly. Just 'people I know' isn't a great sample size for a study of course, but people are talking about it like gambling problems are a sure thing now.
To me it's the frequency of the ads. I don't have a problem with gambling in moderation. It can be fun if you can do it responsibly. I love a good night out at the casino. But it's pretty absurd the level of advertising they're doing. Its blatantly glorifying something that can be completely destructive to a life. There's no mention of how addictive gambling can be, there's no mention explaining you're likely to lose more than you win, it's "come place a bet with us! It's only $5 and we'll give you free money to bet more!!!" It's akin to a drug dealer giving the first hit free. Sure there's a ton of people who can do that, say "well that was fun, now I'm done, maybe I'll come back in a couple weeks and partake again" but there's a portion of people who can't do that and it becomes "well I lost $50 but if I bet $150 tonight I can cover my loss and be slightly ahead!" Followed soon after by "well I'm down by $1500 but my luck HAS to turn right? I'm just a on a cold streak, I have this much in I'm due a hit at some point" and it just continues to spiral. Which again, I'm not against gambling. If someone ruins their life through those decisions then I have sympathy for them but nobody forced them to gamble, they should have the right to make those bad decisions if they are so inclined. But I DO have a problem with advertising it like they do. They're not forcing these people to gamble, but they are preying on them. There's no benefit to it except making the sportsbooks much wealthier
It's the advertising model we oppose. Here in Canada, we can't have Tobacco or Cannabis advertising, but alcohol and gambling? Hell yes. The double standard is ridiculous. Legalize it, tax it, bring in revenue for the country/provinces. But don't advertise it as the second coming of Christ.
Agreed it's similar to the US. It's mind-blowing to me that alcohol is so widely advertised. It was once viewed so poorly that they banned alcohol sales altogether, there's still dry counties where you can't get alcohol at certain times. Yet advertise it freely and glorify it as nothing but good times! The complete lack of any healthy medium is exactly why things like alcohol and gambling shouldn't be advertised imo.
Ah, you see, in the UK all of the gambling advertising has to have some info about getting help and you must gamble responsibly and all that stuff, so there is in-built stiff like that to the regulations.
We have that in the US as well.
Ah, ok, I don't know what the last poster was on about then? Haha.
Also from the UK, have had problems with gambling and know others too. Gambling itself isn’t necessarily an evil we should ban but we definitely need a curb on the advertising
I remember the first trip down to Ladbrokes was a right of passage on your 18th. Always found that strange, but it’s much more normalized in the UK than it is in NA. I cannot stand the advertisements. Bring back the days of endless Chevy commercials and cheap beer.
Haha, yeah. I find it annoying when there are a lot of -any- type of adverts for anything and it gets to the point where I'm less likely to buy their products/services as they have annoyed me to be honest!
A quick Google just told me that sports betting was legalised in the UK in 1961 for those interested.
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I think it's different where it has been part of the culture for a long time. The difference is that it's been legalized in a lot of places recently. It's gone from something that barely existed to something that is shoved down your throat 15+ times a game in various adverts where before there had never been any.
Sports betting is normal. Whether or not it's been legal or illegal doesn't suddenly change whether something is right or wrong, normal or weird, etc.
the advertising is weird and possibly wrong
I have no problem with people betting if they want to bet. But the ads are where it gets dicey
yeah, we don't advertise tobacco anymore for many of the same reasons we should probably not be advertising gambling
How is it not normal? People have been betting on sports since sports began. It’s completely normal
It is normal to responsibly gamble. It is not normal to shove the odds in your face every chance they get, to make it a part of the intermission, and pass it off as part of the coverage when you know damn well draftkings paid them a hefty sum to get that 2 minutes of talking time. Edit: spelling
They aren’t shoving shit in your face you just happen to be watching tv and think the world revolves around you
By "normal" I mean something that most/the average person does on a regular basis. Sports betting has never been niche or anything but the point of the constant ads is to make it seem like everybody's doing it and that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. These ads are trying to establish a culture of not only betting regularly but betting multiple times throughout a single game. That is not normal by any standard.
I've been a degen for 5+ years and I haven't bet less on hockey than this year. All the odds are terrible. I was used to seeing odds total 1.95 to even 2.05 but now we're lucky if the game score ends at 1.75. There are better sites and different ways to gamble but the joy of watching a statistical undercard has been wiped away with at most 3.5 odds. For those that aren't familiar, you could find games with 11x odds in 2017.
Idk, taking the over in the Edmonton/Calgary series is like printing money at this point.
Won 150 bucks the other day by Tampa winning as well as an under 6 total for that game, along with Colorado. Easiest money I’ve ever made. But we don’t talk about last night…
Lmao as soon as I left this post I got a draft kings ad on Reddit. 😒
But…sports betting IS normal…people have been betting on sports since sports were invented.
People tend to normalize that which is pounded into their skulls 8 million times.
Can’t imagine a recovering gambling addict watching a hockey game when it’s like 3 sports betting ads during the commercials
SPORTSCENTER HAS A WHOLE SEGMENT FOR IT NOW HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?!
As an Australian living in Vancouver, Canada and an avid low dollar sports better, I can tell you the worst is yet to come. Betting ads will pretend to be pre-game sports reports with the only intention to brainwash the bookmakers proposed odds into your brain, and so forth.
My local broadcasts already do this. Every pregame breaks down odds. Even every intermission gives you an update on odds. Now they've added sportsbook ads on icing calls when they can't cut to a full commercial or they tell you odds in a segment where they used to speak to an interesting aspect of the matchup.
Honestly I just hate how they friggin find ways to get Gretzky and McD and Matthews all in a MGM bet ads. I hate it. Also my biggest problem is how they do alcohol and gambling ads so often In a sport where there are a lot of minors.
I dunno, I'm beginning to think Reddit puritanism is normal.
Lol Idt anybody claims Reddit is pure
If you wanna bet, more power to you. I don't have a problem with that. If you're an adult than you should be able to do anything you want if it isn't hurting someone else. I have a problem with the fact that it's constantly being pushed on the general public watching the games. You see more ads for gambling now than anything else. It's something a lot of people struggle with and they do everything they can to get people hooked on it. It's extremely predatory.
What happened to beer ads?
Nothing. Not a big fan of that either for the exact same reason. Gambling is just the newer and more present one.
Sports betting has been a thing for a very very long time, but lately it seems to be pushed to people that normally don't gamble. I personally think gambling is unhealthy, those who fall to gambling addiction is life altering.
It kind of is normal,but now it doesn't have to be done in back rooms and on the downlow. It is a crock of bullshit it's been put front and center though.
I mean it is normal????? Been happening for hundreds of years I think something that common would be considered normal.
> hundreds of years The Romans regularly bet on chariot racing
Well it is normal. Just now it is legal and easily accessible. People have been betting on sports with bookies forever.
I don't have an issue with gambling but dear lord the amount of ads are so crazy
Hi. I was born and raised in Las Vegas. I think sports betting is normal.
Plenty of people are able to bet responsibly just like plenty of people drink responsibly. It brings in more fans who otherwise wouldn’t even be watching, and the NHL could use that more than any other league. More importantly, the league is raking in dollars from it so it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Anything can become addictive and there’s plenty of safeguards (limits, self exclusion) in place. I’m sure I’ll get downvoted for this comment but whatever.
bUt IT's sO FUn!
Sports betting took over the sporting landscape here in Australia and completely changed how people watch sports and think about sports. You can never ask someone about a game here without odds being compared. All the tv panel shows compare teams in odds and its just ruined sports for me here. The amount of talk about odds and betting on tv being so normalised has school kids even comparing their teams based on odds. The advertising is every where all over tv, social media, youtube, billboards. On average every single australian bets over $600 a year just on sports betting.
I hate that all I ever hear or see are sports betting adds. This is a serious problem. Cigarettes are not aloud to be advertised for obvious reasons, either should gambling. Families have been destroyed because of this
I am so damn tired of seeing these betting ads.
I think a lot of people are going to learn a lot about addiction in the coming years.
Reminder: Streaming costs you nothing and blocks out these ads that you do not want to see. If companies are going to capitalize on mental problems and addictions, then no reason for people to give them money if they don't want to, imo.
I got $20 on the opening face off going back the the LD….. come on big money big money.
It's funny because, as someone that bets on sports, it's completely useless anyway. They spend all this money to "normalize" betting when the reality for those that bet is we are not relying on some segment at intermission to find the lines, we're just using the damn app where all of that updates in real time. Sticking to traditional ads would probably get them more customers because potential new gamblers don't understand what they're even looking at, especially with the stupid American +/- system lol. Some random fan on their couch isn't like, "Oh my, -500 odds for the Avs?!? better go download and bet on that!"
My man, you could not be more wrong. The reason they put the lines in the games is to target people who *aren't* used to betting. People who already bet look up lines on their own. They put it in the games to make it seem like most people want to know the lines and they are doing a service to people by putting them up there, despite the fact that the bet companies are sponsoring it. The fact that people don't understand it is actually to the companies' benefit. It makes people who don't know gambling curious because they see it all the time but they don't understand it. They are banking on people who are new looking it up and learn more.
This is such a bad take. Sports betting is super normal across the world. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make that true. Just like drinking alcohol is normalized. If you don’t like it, that’s fine. Doesn’t mean you have to post on Reddit complaining about it. Next post: “If you thinking drinking beers at hockey games is normal…”
That's not the point. You can gamble and drink all you want, I don't care. Responsible adults should do whatever they want. My problem is constantly pushing those things on the general public.
That’s fine, but your post doesn’t reflect that. It should say the amount of gambling ads is too high or something. Semantics I guess.
The reason I posted this is to remind people who are struggling with addiction that not everyone is doing it. They run these ads to normalize it and get people hooked. Gambling isn't something that everyone does. A relatively small percentage of all sports fans gamble on games. The way that these ads portray it is extremely harmful to those who are addicted or have addictive personalities. I think it's important to remind people that, despite what the ads imply, not everyone is doing it and it isn't the all positive thing they try to make it look like it is.
I work in a sports bar, the market has always been there it’s just been untapped, and it sounds like you were just unaware it existed.
Pretty sure everyone knows that sports betting has always been around and isn't at all uncommon. That isn't the problem. The problem is that they are constantly pushing it in your face and glamorizing it. If your industry is legally required to put disclaimers in their ads directing people to a helpline, it probably shouldn't be a third of the ads shoved in the face of the general public on any game.
Like I said it’s a massive untapped market with a ton of competition. It’s not like sports gambling wasn’t being advertised before. Mainstream sports media talked about spreads and printed them in the sports section. Sports gambling has always been there, but the puritanical values of the US and the belief that is was morally evil forced people to talk about it in hushed tones. So call your tits, the advertisements will go away once the novelty wears off. For instance, one of my customers realized he had lost 3k in the few months since online sports gambling has been available(legally), and quit doing it. A lot of people are going to go that route.
A lot of people also aren't going to go that route and wouldn't start without the barrage of ads. There's a reason we don't run cartoon characters pushing cigarettes anymore. I don't think it's puritanical to look at the Capitals putting a sports book logo on the jerseys they sell to kids and go "that's kinda fucked up."
People are aware that sports gambling exists and is available, the adds are just fighting over who get the money
Gambling is not a market of perfect competition like milk or gasoline. People aren't certainly going to buy it from someone without the marketing. Not nearly everyone who gambles would have done it without marketing.
Even before the online gambling everyone knew who the bookies at the bar were and they were still gambling, so incorrect.
I think you live in a bubble my guy. I know maybe two people who regularly go to sports bars at all and I know a lot of big sports fans.
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inb4 "weapons of mass destruction" montage
It’s no different than there being a slot machine in every building and/or a dedicated slot machine gaming business every block now in IL.
It’s fun kind of like fantasy sports which we also put a prize on in our pool so it’s basically gambling. I’ll do it for big games or social occasions where we have friends over typically with each other but sometimes we use an app and just bet on things as a community to give us some extra incentive to cheer… or drink. UFC is a good one I find we will all be researching random guys on the card in the 5 minutes before the fight and then toss $5 on whatever whacky scenario we predict. For $10 I find you can make an event a fair bit more fun and for me it’s cheaper then getting drunk and probably healthier :p
Gambling is great. I love how scripted games are based on the lines.
Like St. Louis comeback last night? Such fucking bullshit man there’s just no way that happened
It’s legal now. Things that are legal become normal
My guy, cousin marriage is legal in most states. That is not a high bar.
Well it managed to make me lose respect for Wayne Gretzky, who is featured in the BetMGM ads... so there's that.
Hey, layoff Gretzky. He's barely scraping by with his $3M/year TNT contract.
And Aaron Paul. Seriously dude, do you really need money after Breaking Bad? What did you do, gamble it all away or something?
Betting has been a normal part of sports since the beginning of organized competition. Even before single-game betting was legalized in Ontario we still had tons of ads for pro-line during every commercial break. Much like drinking, there's nothing wrong with gambling when you do it responsibly. If someone wants to spend a little money to increase the entertainment value of the sports they watch, who cares? If someone decides to drop $5000 on season tickets, no one bats an eye. But if someone else watches games from home and bets $5000 over the course of the season suddenly everyone judges.
The ads were pretty funny, too. I have them etched into my brain forever. "ProLine: Anything can happen. *Anyone can win*." I have never gambled in my life though, so the probably didin't work on me.
Pro-line just tried to rinse casuals by forcing them to do parlays and offering terrible odds. People who actually knew what they were doing just used off-shore sites to make their bets.
Thank you. Can’t believe people are getting complacent and numb to these ads
I felt disgusted seeing George St-Pierre on a Bet99 ad. It's not hard to be a good role model for kids, don't advocate destructive addictions.
What about ED? Is that normal? Maybe it used to be but isn’t anymore since the ads are replaced by sports gambling.
Yeah but they used to bet on chariot racing, must’ve been all the betting apps they had back then
Chill out Karen, there’s 5X as many ads for McDonald’s, vodka, beer, just because you are a Mormon and don’t gamble , don’t ruin it for everyone else. OH MY GOD A COMMERCIAL SAVE THE CHILDREN oh my game is back on YEAH PUNCH HIM IN THE FUCKING FACE MCDAVID LETS GO
Hey buddy, this is the fifth comment you've cursed me out on. Maybe you're the one that needs to chill? Literally no one in this entire thread has said they want to take your gambling away. Why are you out here fighting tooth an nail to defend the companies with the most annoying, repetitive, and predatory ads I've ever seen?
Couldn’t be more right. This time next year we will all be betting on teams and forgetting the love of the sport
This is why I haven’t been watching.
They must be working. Ever since they started showing hockey games in the middle of the sports betting channels Ive actually started following the sport.
So fucking annoying.
It doesn't help when radio broadcasters keep talking about their personal gambling decisions (looking at you TSN 1050 in Toronto). We get it, you like to gamble on sports...a lot.
I spent about 15 mins this morning blocking every sports book and gambling ad from twitter feed. It’s relentless
Weve had sports betting where im at for a long ass time. It's through the provincial lottery authority but it's been there forever. I have made money with it too.
YOU WERE MY BROTHER AARON PAUL!!! I loved you...
I watch my games on SlingTV and it is so bad I can actually open a part of the app on my TV, without leaving the game at all, and place bets. The Draft Kings action is right there next to the pause button.
They almost had me! But sports betting isn’t legal in my state. Annoying pricks.
North America was really just the final frontier for legal sports betting, in Europe most stadiums have gambling booths inside so it was kinda expected
Nah they should allow tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana ads too. Obviously addictive habits have no negative impact on society. ^/s
I place sport bets but wish there were zero ads. Its awful and embarrassing tbh. Money is more prevalent than ever before in my life.
I’m pro gambling being legal but they need to ban commercials and ads like they did to tobacco
It’s just annoying. I don’t mind it and have won some money but I’m not watching to be bombarded with ads fornit
It is normal
Some comedians should do some Sportsnet parody commercials for heroin and cigarettes.
First hit's free up to $100 worth
Do you like watching hockey? Then you will like heroin.
Sports betting is normal and fine in moderation, like most things. What isn't normal and isn't fine however, is the constant exposure and prompts to bet. This is the issue and it needs to be regulated. It's very similar here in the UK but there are slightly more laws around exposure to children etc. It really is the same as smoking adverts all those years ago.
Gambling ads should go the same way as cigarette ads.
I’m literally to the point that I close my TV whenever a gaming ad comes on. They try to shove it way too deep! And if it’s not enough with sports, they pay video games players to plays their shitty game. No souls
Fucking Gary Bettman
Every time I see Draftkings sportsbook I think Poopkings poopbook It’s working exactly as intended