February 6, 2012
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Betting on the team you don’t support
Two weeks ago, a discussion came up regarding betting on the Super Bowl. Apparently, when the Giants lost three straight during the season, the futures bet for them to win the Super Bowl at like 80 to 1. A ton of Giants fans took that bet. Those people are rich now of course. One friend who I always assumed was a die-hard Yankees fan, said the Red Sox are underrated this coming season and will be putting in his futures bet on them to win the World Series.
Wait. What? A Yankees fan, putting down money to bet on not only another team to win the World Series, but the Boston Red Sox? For those of you who don’t follow baseball, the Yankees – Red Sox rivalry is arguably the greatest rivalry in sports, ever. To call yourself a Yankees supporter and then putting your money on the Red Sox to win it all, makes no sense.
He argues that money is money and it is completely separate to his support for the Yankees. It’s like “hedging” his bet that “just in case the Yankees don’t win, [he] won’t be as sad because he might win some money back to make up for it.
No true Yankees fan would do that, just like we wouldn’t wear a Red Sox cap no matter what. Being a sports fan has no rhyme or reason. Each team is like individual cults, where we invest our money, time and emotions into them. Mrs. jigg, who doesn’t really follow sports, loves the Pats–like a true fan of them. He can never like the Giants and the Jets and would never be able to put money on them. It’s like believing in God and betting on the devil. Just doesn’t work like that.
While I have many friends who sees things like this, there are just as many who thinks its okay. I feel like if you are not a true fan, not a follower of any team, then of course you think it’s okay. But for my friend who claims to be a Yankees fan, I wonder if he’s an anamoly.
Thoughts?
Comments (7)
I would NEVER bet against the Giants.
Then again, I wouldn’t bet money ON the Giants either as I am a paranoid self hating superstitious fan who believes that if I have something tangible to gain from a Giants win, I will be screwed out of it.
I can understand being a fan of a team, but I never understood being loyal to a team. Afterall, it’s not like you are on their payroll nor do they really care about you individually. Their objective is to win and make money, so I don’t see why we can’t as well.
I thought about hedging my love for the Giants by betting on the Patriots, since they were favored to win, but at the end of the day, I couldn’t do it. And now I’m glad. Big payout yesterday… Big. Sometimes you have to risk big to win big. There’s just no suitable alternative.
i think its fine. i mean, sports allegiances are irrational feelings to begin with. you can still support your team emotionally but understand that the odds are what the odds are. if theres a profit opportunity to be made, i think you can take it while still standing behind your team.
I think being a “loyal fan” itself is somewhat irrational. The only reason ppl become so attached is because a victory for the team almost feels like a personal victory minus the hard work. And we relish that feeling. At the end of the day though, it’s pretty meaningless. And hey, if you can make some money, why not?
this reminds me of that movie fever pitch with jimmy fallon and drew barrymore. you’re jimmy fallon. oh wait, was he a red sox fan? red sox is baseball team right? are you talking about baseball up there? or football? im so confused. whatever, this was jibberish to me anyway.
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