03-29-2024, 10:21 AM
There's always a fair amount of paternalism in these sorts of threads but this one really takes the cake.
Our departed basketball player is worth $300,000 if that's what someone decides to pay him for his services. Is Steph Curry worth $215 million? He is if the free market says he is. Is that bribery or corruption? It's no more of a bribe than my boss bribing me to get out of bed this morning with a pay check when I didn't feel like working.
It is true that the entire world of "amateur" college athletics is being turned on its head. It's long overdue. The entire industry has been operating in a fantasy land for decades while openly flouting antitrust and employment law.
Regarding the entirtely separate topic of gambling, teenagers have long been playing professional soccer in European stadiums with gambling advertisements flashed all over the place. College athletes are more than capable of understanding the difference between receiving a pay check for their services and receiving a sum of money to affect the integrity of competition. And if they don't, the sportsbooks have access to a vast array of resources to sniff out irregular betting patterns faster than most people can fathom.
Our departed basketball player is worth $300,000 if that's what someone decides to pay him for his services. Is Steph Curry worth $215 million? He is if the free market says he is. Is that bribery or corruption? It's no more of a bribe than my boss bribing me to get out of bed this morning with a pay check when I didn't feel like working.
It is true that the entire world of "amateur" college athletics is being turned on its head. It's long overdue. The entire industry has been operating in a fantasy land for decades while openly flouting antitrust and employment law.
Regarding the entirtely separate topic of gambling, teenagers have long been playing professional soccer in European stadiums with gambling advertisements flashed all over the place. College athletes are more than capable of understanding the difference between receiving a pay check for their services and receiving a sum of money to affect the integrity of competition. And if they don't, the sportsbooks have access to a vast array of resources to sniff out irregular betting patterns faster than most people can fathom.