The intersection of sports and gambling has created the very real risk of inside information being harvested and utilized to give bettors an edge. Throw in the ever-growing prediction markets, and the folks who know things as part of their jobs have real power.
The recent LeBron James guessing game illustrates how a world of unregulated inside information can move markets, and can allow some to make money.
Consider the Miami Heat social-media snafu that resulted in the Miami Heat leaking news of an upcoming introductory press conference. Even if it was a mistake (Schefty was pushing the idea of LeBron to Miami in a Thursday appearance on radio in Philly), some of the people who saw it or heard about it surely placed wagers that James would sign with the Heat. (And, if they did, they lost.)
Then there’s the issue of having personal access to one of the top insiders covering a given sport. With ESPN’s Shams Charania currently the preeminent NBA insider, he was in a position to either know exactly what was going to happen — or to have a pretty good inkling.
As the Ryan Gold situation possibly demonstrates, there are degrees of inside information. Even if someone doesn’t know what’s going to happen with certainty, certain people are in position to know more than the general public does.
And no one seems to be paying attention. No one seems to care. It’s the Wild West age of wagering, with many simply focusing on stuffing as much money in their pockets as possible, without regard to the broader societal consequences. Or the reckoning that they may personally experience, if/when an ambitious federal prosecutor convenes a grand jury to take a closer look at whether and to what extent those who have this kind of sensitive information are mishandling it.
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