Australia, a country which legalized sports betting around the turn of the century, is a prime example of what America wants to avoid.
Widespread legalization of online sports betting arrived in Australia in 2001, but even in a culture with a longtime acceptance of gambling as a form of entertainment, it didn’t explode onto the market.
Around 2009, Australians began to notice a dramatic shift in the atmosphere surrounding sports and how the games were presented by the media. International bookmaking companies, with much larger marketing budgets, began arriving on the scene. Soon, advertising for betting could be found near schools and on public transportation. The gambling talk during game broadcasts went from subtle to constant, with commercials from sportsbooks bleeding into the media coverage. At one point, one of Australia’s biggest bookies was a regular in the broadcast booth.
Others receiving votes: After a slow start, there Scott Hartnell Jersey have been signs of life in Gary Barnidge, who has more than 55 yards in five straight games (the second-longest streak among tight ends this season) and now gets a Jets team that is in the top 10 in most fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends. … The Raiders have allowed three touchdowns to tight ends in the past three weeks and cough up the fifth-most yards to tight ends this season, so while it has been a quiet few weeks for Cameron Brate, he has some nice streamer appeal Sunday. … We’ve been waiting for a Zach Ertz breakout game for a while now and Sunday, I think we get it against a Cowboys team that gives up the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing Sergei Bobrovsky Jersey tight ends. … Deeper-leaguers looking for someone should check out C.J. Fiedorowicz of the Texans, who now has seven or more targets in three straight games and faces a Lions team that has given up at least eight points to opposing tight ends in all but one game this season. Overall, the Lions allow the third-most TE points per game.
Coby Fleener, Saints: As much as I am not scared of the Seahawks this week and like the majority of the Saints’ passing game this week at home, I am nervous about Fleener. He had the one big game against Atlanta, he had the fluky two-touchdown game against the Panthers, in which he got a goal-line CARRY because Sean Payton hates me and Mark Ingram with equal venom. But other than that, it has been a quiet, inconsistent year for Fleener, as 83 percent of his scoring has come in those two games, while he has been held below 45 yards (and no scores) in all his other games this season. Tight ends have scored more than six points against Seattle just once this season, so Fleener is outside my top 10.
Zach Miller, Bears: Miller was held to less than 50 yards TOTAL in the two games Jay Cutler started earlier this season, so we just don’t know how much usage he will get now that Cutler is back under center. He was productive last season with Cutler, so it’s too small a sample size to really judge anything, but facing the Vikings, who have yet to give up a touchdown to a tight end this season — and only the Carolina Panthers’ tight ends, led by Greg Olsen, have had more than 70 yards in a game against them (Olsen had 64 yards in that one) — it’s hard to see Miller returning top-15 value this week.
If sports betting is legalized in the U.S., recreational bettors will have far more options, like gambling hedge funds. But they will also have increased competition. And not only from humans.