Opinion: I Can’t Believe We’re Still Discussing Whether Expanded Gambling is Good for Athletes
Matt Fitzpatrick (Credit: Cyrille Bertin/Wikimedia Commons)
As sports gambling keeps expanding, revenues keep rising, shoveling ever-greater piles of money into the pockets of operators and leagues. Athletes, obviously, reap some of these financial benefits, yet we’re still seeing bizarre headlines and stories that seem to gloss over that.
Betteridge’s law of headlines states that any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no. Well, SBC UK provided a counterexample this week. An article there asked, “Are golfers getting their fair due from betting?”
Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick are the latest pro golfers on record questioning whether golf’s association with gambling has become more trouble than it’s worth. Spieth said it “needed to be tackled,” and Fitzpatrick called it “an issue” and said it’s “definitely becoming a problem.”
I’m guessing these guys aren’t having second thoughts about cashing their checks. Spieth’s comments are especially odd, given that he has a direct sponsorship deal with FanDuel.
The strange nearsightedness certainly isn’t confined to golfers. In the wake of the scandal that ensnared Chauncey Billups last year, NBA star Jaylen Brown said that players “don’t benefit from any of the profits.”
Does Brown understand how the league’s revenue sharing works? He certainly should, since he’s vice president of the NBA Players Association.
I probably shouldn’t be surprised at this weird dissonance. But it’s hard to believe we’re still having this discussion hundreds of millions of dollars (at least) into the game.
Golf is Gaining Popularity, and Gambling is One of the Reasons
The premise of the SBC piece is that athletes have to endure harassment and heckling. Is that worth the financial gains reaped from expanded sports betting? After all, the article points out, golfers have somewhat restrictive sponsorship guidelines regarding sports betting companies.
The relationship between expanded sports betting and athletes’ financial gains is less clear in golf than in some other sports. That’s because the PGA doesn’t need to and hasn’t said how much revenue its gambling relationships generate. A high-ranking tour rep would only say that the relationships have been well worth it when speaking to a reporter last year.
But it’s pretty clear that gambling has been hugely beneficial to the PGA and its players. It wouldn’t be in these relationships for going on five years if that weren’t the case. The PGA wouldn’t have “A Basic Guide to Betting on Golf” posted on its website unless betting on golf was directly contributing to its bottom line.
Google search interest in the term “golf scores” has increased 30% over the past five years compared to the prior five, roughly coinciding with expanded legal sports betting. Purse-wise, the John Deere Classic that recently wrapped up increased from $5.6 million in 2021 to $9 million in 2026. That’s almost a 20% gain after accounting for inflation.
It’s impossible to say exactly how much of that is connected to gambling. But it’s clearly a positive for the bottom line on some level.
Sports Betting Brings Headaches But Also Lines Athletes’ Pockets
Anecdotally, I know people who paid basically zero attention to golf 10 years ago but now participate in year-long one-and-dones. There are Calcuttas, pools for major events like the Masters, and daily fantasy sports. People are piling money into these, and those people are more likely to watch golf.
That means more eyes, more ad revenue, and more TV dollars. Just because Matt Fitzpatrick and his brethren can’t draw a direct line between sports betting dollars and the size of their own checks, it doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist.
Yes, that money comes fraught with complications and issues. Harassment sucks, and nobody should have to deal with that at work. And if fans are trying to influence the action by affecting golfers’ shots in a manner that isn’t allowed at venues, they’ll have to be dealt with.
But the PGA is well aware of that trade-off. It’s happy to make that deal with the gambling devil because the payoff is immense. And despite what players and media are saying, it’s undeniable that some of those dollars trickle to the athletes.
If they think they deserve more, that’s a defensible position. Hopefully, people like Jaylen Brown can collectively bargain for it where applicable. But can we at least stop pretending that sports betting is some negative freeroll for the athletes? Everyone involved is making a killing from gambling revenue, the players included.
Image credit: Cyrille Bertin/Wikimedia Commons (license)
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