Sports

Auggie

(31,204 posts) Wed Oct 14, 2015, 01:50 PM Oct 2015

Don't Be the Patsy in Fantasy Sports (opinion)

Barry Ritholtz / Bloomberg View, 10-13-15

As they say in poker, If you've been in the game 30 minutes and don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy. -- Warren Buffett

By now, you may have heard about the insider trading scandal at the two biggest fantasy sports companies. DraftKings employees, based on the bets they saw laid down by their clients, made a killing at competitor site FanDuel.

Let's get one thing out of the way: This isn't insider trading, at least as it's commonly understood. These aren't trades based on material nonpublic inside information about publicly traded companies. These look to my eyes more akin to one bookie laying off bets on another.

This black eye aside, fantasy sports is becoming a very big business. ESPN, the sports channel owned by Walt Disney Co., made Boston-based DraftKings the official daily fantasy unit of the giant entertainment company for undisclosed terms; the fantasy sports site also raised $300 million, led by Twenty-First Century Fox's sports division.

SNIP

Here's how I look at it. There are two big issues: 1) Is this gambling?, and 2) Is this a sucker's bet? There is a technical debate about the former question; there is no debate about the latter.

More: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-13/don-t-be-the-patsy-in-fantasy-sports

3 replies

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Highlight:

Don't Be the Patsy in Fantasy Sports (opinion) (Original Post) Auggie Oct 2015 OP

I have always had a low opinion of FF since its inception GusBob Oct 2015 #1

This scandal is minor in mho and just the tip of an iceberg. trumad Oct 2015 #2

Seems to me ESPN and the NFL made a very serious mistake. . . DinahMoeHum Oct 2015 #3

GusBob

(7,286 posts)

1. I have always had a low opinion of FF since its inception

Reply to Auggie (Original post)

Wed Oct 14, 2015, 02:11 PM

Oct 2015

but have learned to keep my opinion to myself on sports forums and the guys I watch football with who play. Whatever, live and let live.

But I will say this: wherever there is so much money involved, there is bound to be corruption.

It is also apparent to me as a non-gambler, your odds are much better betting games straight up

trumad

(41,692 posts)

2. This scandal is minor in mho and just the tip of an iceberg.

Reply to Auggie (Original post)

Wed Oct 14, 2015, 03:23 PM

Oct 2015

Mark my words---there will be one so big that it will destroy the business. Internet---Gambling---Hacking---Inside knowledge---Organized Crime---you name it.

DinahMoeHum

(21,812 posts)

3. Seems to me ESPN and the NFL made a very serious mistake. . .

Reply to Auggie (Original post)

Wed Oct 14, 2015, 06:01 PM

Oct 2015

. . .in getting too close with this shit.

That goes double for owners like Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft.

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