The gambling thread tying all these sports together is somethign I never thought about that deeply. I always saw sports betting as just a side thing, but framing it as the actual connecting tissue changes the whole picture. Back in college I remember how the entire Super Bowl party was basically peoeple watching their bets more than the game itself.
It was interesting to see FIFA award Trump their first ever "peace prize" recently. I wonder if it's somehow related to the 2015 FIFA scandal, which unmasked "long running, behind the scenes corruption", forcing the resignations of Blatter and Platini? The scheme with the World Cup (& the Eurovision Song Contest) is for the host nation to stump up the $$$ to host the competition, whilst those running ticketing companies and merch make merry. There are big profits to be made, but not usually for the host country. Host country politicians likely a different matter. From a non-US perspective, there was a lot of noise made around the 2015 scandal because soccer is not a game in which the US usually excels, and seeing the FBI involved in a corruption case in a US minor sport that's the biggest sport worldwide outside of the US was odd. It looked like the US was trying to muscle into the big time, which based on your article is possibly true. Perhaps Trump is responsible - 1st term stuff - for bringing stability to FIFA and acting as a peacemaker in what was a war for control.
I was watching a bit by Michael Franzese. He made a comment that it is interesting how the mob was prosecuted for gambling, but now that the NFL and NBA do it, it's okay. I had to laugh.
The majority of this article was written before Trump's military games event today. I'll evaluate that separately once all the coincidences shake out.
I'll fix typos tomorrow. Just wanted to get it out on time.
The gambling thread tying all these sports together is somethign I never thought about that deeply. I always saw sports betting as just a side thing, but framing it as the actual connecting tissue changes the whole picture. Back in college I remember how the entire Super Bowl party was basically peoeple watching their bets more than the game itself.
It was interesting to see FIFA award Trump their first ever "peace prize" recently. I wonder if it's somehow related to the 2015 FIFA scandal, which unmasked "long running, behind the scenes corruption", forcing the resignations of Blatter and Platini? The scheme with the World Cup (& the Eurovision Song Contest) is for the host nation to stump up the $$$ to host the competition, whilst those running ticketing companies and merch make merry. There are big profits to be made, but not usually for the host country. Host country politicians likely a different matter. From a non-US perspective, there was a lot of noise made around the 2015 scandal because soccer is not a game in which the US usually excels, and seeing the FBI involved in a corruption case in a US minor sport that's the biggest sport worldwide outside of the US was odd. It looked like the US was trying to muscle into the big time, which based on your article is possibly true. Perhaps Trump is responsible - 1st term stuff - for bringing stability to FIFA and acting as a peacemaker in what was a war for control.
I was watching a bit by Michael Franzese. He made a comment that it is interesting how the mob was prosecuted for gambling, but now that the NFL and NBA do it, it's okay. I had to laugh.