In the United States, where many leagues have spent years fighting in court against the expansion of sports betting, the XFL is taking a firm stand on its choice to engage in sports betting by consulting with bookmakers on the new rules and encouraging media partners to integrate betting into their programs. If you like sports but want to enjoy the game without betting, why not play videoslots and try to win money during commercials or powerplay website?
Times have changed
For decades, the traditional leagues in the United States stayed away from sports betting, fearing that betting would taint the integrity of the games. Former baseball commissioner Bud Selig once said that sports betting was “evil, creating doubt and destroying the game. ” Yet, there were people betting in the massive underground and offshore sports betting industry. Today, trust in sports betting has grown but is not completely established : legal bookmakers now operate in more than a dozen states and, at least so far, the sports have survived. The NBA, NHL and MLB each have official betting partners, and the NFL is moving in that direction. The newest league, the XFL, is taking a leap forward claiming it is time to “embrace the spread.” XFL president Jeffrey Pollack said he sees no downside to encouraging sports betting, only upside, and that it’s what fans want. Are the other leagues out of date with their fans’ wishes ?
Revised rules for betting
The XFL’s mission, design and business infrastructure are all geared towards the future of sports betting that is on the horizon. In the same logic, the league has kept the bettor in mind when creating its rules and scoring system. In an effort to do it right, it even shared its ideas with Las Vegas sports betting operators to see what worked and what didn’t. The XFL has adopted rules to condense the game : increasing the pace of play, eliminating near-automatic plays such as extra points, and improving timing rules to improve comeback opportunities and keep the gap in play as long as possible. Bettors were used to traditional NFL and college key figure values, and the changes to the timing and scoring rules were quite challenging for them. They didn’t know how the coaches would handle the new options after touchdowns, for example. But they can find tips and information about the XFL betting strategy.
Betting odds appear during broadcasts
Anchors like Brent Musburger and Al Michaels were already making discreet references to sports betting in their broadcasts, but during XFL games the they went straight to the point, and the odds were front and center. On screen, point spreads and overruns were displayed next to the scores during XFL broadcasts on ESPN and Fox, and ads for sponsored sportsbooks like Caesars and FoxBet appeared from time to time.
The decision of the XFL is not unanimously accepted, but it is a fact that the bettors are there. Was the XFL visionary by integrating sports betting as frankly ? Chris Dougan, spokesman for Genius Sports, said that the XFL “should be applauded for its proactive stance in engaging with the sports betting industry,”
