Below is an excerpt from the Lap Count newsletter, posted with permission. Kyle Merber’s Lap Count newsletter both entertains and enlightens fans about athletes and happenings in our sport.
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From the Lap Count Newsletter
“When the news leaked last week that Draft Kings had requested permission from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to open its book for the Boston Marathon, fans were excited.”
I had forty-five minutes to kill ahead of a family dinner this past weekend. The restaurant was next to the casino and the forty dollars cash I had was burning a hole in my wallet. So I left a sleeping baby in the car (with my wife), wandered in, and promptly lost four straight hands of blackjack. When I walked back to the car six minutes later we had a good laugh about it. It had been over a year since I was last summoned by the flickering fluorescent lights and smell of chain smoking slots players, and any itch to return again soon was scratched.
I don’t consider myself a gambling man. Though admittedly, I did also place some bets last month.
There is an old hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Westchester that I had been meaning to try. Due to my lack of friends, I decided to venture there solo and sit at the bar for a burger and beer. There was a television directly in front of me showing an early-round game from the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. I had no prior investment in either team but decided to throw a ten-dollar wager on Miami because I like their uniforms. Suddenly this game mattered to me.
(Remember a few weeks ago when I shared that the NCAA Indoor Track meet was lumped in with 28 other college championships in a package worth $34M/year to ESPN? Well, that was before 9.9M people tuned in to watch the women’s basketball finals…)
When the news leaked last week that DraftKings had requested permission from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to open up its books for the Boston Marathon, fans were excited. Would it be worth the $100 risk on Eliud Kipchoge to cover the costs of a single cup of coffee?
Unfortunately, one day later this pipe dream was denied by the MGC as the B.A.A. expressed concern given the tight turnaround. We can cross our fingers and hope that other World Marathon Majors have taken note of the potential interest and start getting the wheels in motion for approval. But already on the approved list are the Olympics, Olympic Trials, World Championships, World Indoor Tour, and the World Athletics Continental Tour (the Diamond League isn’t listed).
That means that meets like the Trials of Miles Track Night NYC meet or the On Track Festival would theoretically be eligible – if there was enough interest. That could be a pretty great opportunity for the pro-gambling media conglomerate known as CITIUS MAG to help make that happen (is this a subtle enough plea to readers to help us get in touch with the right people?).
While I don’t think adding betting to the sport is the panacea to all of our problems, it would undoubtedly capture more consistent attention from an already partially engaged audience. While excitement will be amplified over the course of a two-hour race, it’s the built-in hype of the ever-changing odds during the lead-up that would be the real kicker. There would be ripple effects across the industry as every article, interview, and race video now has a potential financial impact on fans.
Are you familiar with how intently old men smoking cigars watch horses as they trot out of their stables? Now imagine how many views a press conference of those same horses talking about how their training went would receive. Suddenly the logo on that horse’s shirt is worth a bit more, and the bank logo behind his horse head is even more. Impressions equal dollars, baby.
And I don’t understand the concern with athletes throwing races. First off, Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame – he only bet on himself to win! Something every runner already does. I mean, 4,256 hits is unbelievable. One solution is to limit the maximum payout. Boom, already done by every sportsbook.
This is an issue in every other sport, especially in college sports where the athletes don’t have prize money or bonuses. But the easiest solution is to pay the athletes more. Oh, you can’t afford it right now? I have an idea…
