Poll finds 40 percent of sports reporters gamble on sports

Hmmmm. Interesting.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004008552

 

More like ... disgusting.

 

Yeah. That's probably a better word. There's levels to this, though. A prep writer betting some money on the NFL isn't that big of a deal, at least to me. Betting on the sport you cover obviously is.

 

Nothing new here.

 

Forty percent of sports reporters admitted in a recent survey to gambling on sports, while 5% said they had bet on sports they had covered.
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This is where the old headline tense thing can be a little misleading.
How is the question phrased?
"Have you ever gambled on sports?" is different than "Do you actively gamble on sports?"
I know a guy who has placed some NFL bets in Vegas, but that person doesn't cover the NFL, and his activitily would consist of fewer than four bets in the past decade. Would that person be included in the 40 percent?

 

A few things:

1. I'm not sure what to think of the survey's title: "Sports Coverage: Toy Department or Public-Service Journalism."
2. If you're a beat writer for the Lions, is it unequivocally wrong to place a bet on the Super Bowl?
3. Is it wrong for NFL/MLB writers to participate in fantasy football/baseball leagues for money?

 

1. Does this include horse racing?
2. Does this include pools in the press boxes/media centers?
3. Does this include NCAA tournament pools?

I mean, there's all kinds of gray area here.

 

That number is incredibly low.

 

most sports writers who bet on sports they cover, if not the teams, probably lose a lot more than they win. dr. z put this in perspective a few years back.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/dr_z/10/13/betting/index.html

 

It's good that sports journalists are highly compensated so that throwing money down the toilet doesn't really matter.

 

I'm surprised and not too sure I believe this, depending on, as others have said, how the question was worded.

 

I don't think they surveyed anyone on here. And I would love to know the papers they took this poll from.