NYT Regional Papers eliminate lines

Not only isn't there a moral distinction, there isn't much of a legal one, either. Both against the law most places. But on one it's OK for sports sections to wink at it, while on the other they run moralizing pieces about athletes not being "good role models" if they smoke a joint.

 

Bill Dwyre was always famously against betting lines in the agate pages when he ran the show. I'm sure he still is, although I couldn't say yes or no whether a change of sports editor has changed this at all.

 

The lines provide a nugget of information people want -- the vast majority of whom never bet with a bookie.

 

I'm with Ace. It's a point of reference.

 

That was the argument always made to Dwyre. He didn't buy it.

 

That actually misinforms them because the line changes based on betting activity, not what the actual point differential is expected to be.

 

We get the occasional call from someone wanting to know why we don't run point spreads.

We've never run them in the past. To me, it's a question of cost. That's money I can spend on stringer help or travel or something else that will impact my section more.

 

I said it's a nugget. I didn't say it's accurate.

 

Understood. But I think people who say it informs non-bettors are just looking for a loophole, and it's a pretty farfetched one because when the line changes, it reflects the betting activity. Now I've never argued that a paper I worked for ought to stop running it. But it's intellectually dishonest to pretend it's not meant for bettors. No one else really cares whether their team wins by five or by 15, they just want the team to win, and all they need to know is whether victory is considered likely or unlikely.

 

This newspaper has never run point spreads.

I get a call once or twice a year from somebody complaining about that. And I'm comfortable with the decision, made well above my pay grade a long time ago, not to run the lines.

The best reason, it seems to me, is that sports gambling is illegal in this state. Not sure what message it would send to have to defend the running of spreads in that context.

 

That would certainly qualify as "news you can use."

 

What other impartial means is there to determine whether a team is a favorite or an underdog?