SPORTS
A recent investigative report alleges widespread
match fixing in high-level professional tennis. These
serious allegations again raise serious concerns relating to sports gambling.
The dangers of sports gambling and its potential to corrupt the competitive process is not new. In
1919, eight members of the Chicago White Sox were
accused of being paid to lose the World Series. They
were charged but never convicted. Instead, they
were banned from baseball. One of these players, Joe
Jackson, was considered one of the best players of his
era, and because of the ban has never been eligible for
the baseball hall of fame.
About sixty years later, another gambling scandal emerged in major league baseball. Pete Rose,
one of the best hitters the league had ever seen, was
revealed to be a gambling addict. While he was playing and managing the Cincinnati Reds, he bet on
baseball games, including games involving the Reds.
He claims that he never bet against the Reds and
there has never been any allegation that he intentionally caused the team to lose any games for gambling
purposes. However, because of the danger of players benefitting financially from manipulating results,
any gambling on the sport is strictly forbidden. Rose
was banned for life from the game and in spite of
recent efforts to allow for his reinstatement, he is still
banned and not eligible for the hall of fame.
It might seem that the danger of players gambling
on sports is reduced in the era of multimillionaire
athletes. Why would an athlete risk their reputation and future earning potential by allowing themselves to be compromised by gamblers attempting to
manipulate results? Perhaps the reason to continue to
fear this potential is the proliferation of high stakes
international gambling. Sports gambling is a multibillion dollar industry with a range of participants.
Large corporate entities control large portions of the
TV Law Rev
Covering 1–21
January 2016
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henry limheng
Legal shows are apparently back in vogue (or
at least the true crime variety). Netflix’s Making a
Murderer and soon-to-air American Crime Story:
The People v OJ Simpson (not to be confused with the
also airing American Crime—which is also worth a
watch if you are a L&O: SVU fan) are examples of television shows riding the popularity of the genre. Also
airing is a newcomer scripted financial crime drama
Billions, which joins an already bloated schedule
including The Grinder, The Good Wife, Law &Order:
SVU, How To Get Away With Murder, and soon-tobe-returning Suits. Good news for the legal TV fan,
but massive headaches for amateur television review
columnists.
Rankings:
Making a Murderer: A
The Grinder: A
The Good Wife