Yo Comish Have You Ever Been To The Thunder Valley Casino?
Just outside of Sacramento, California in the suburb of Lincoln there is an establishment called the Thunder Valley Casino. I have enjoyed breakfast there but while doing so I can honestly say I missed the opportunity to play “Million Dollar Madness” or the “$25,000NFL Fantasy Football Challenge”. Only after seeing my nephew checking his slips this past weekend did I realize these “games” existed and I am wondering does NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell know of their existence? The comish has followed those who served before him in repeatedly denying that gambling has fueled the growing popularity of America’s most popular professional sport. He would like us all to believe that all the people watching last week’s Turkey Day games were motivated by the fact that they just love football. Betting on the NFL is a billion dollar business and transcends gender as well as social and economic boundaries. Frankly 1 in 5 Americans are betting these games which is an illegal activity in this country other than in the state of Nevada. A US government strapped for cash refuses to acknowledge the existence of this underground activity or that millions of dollars are being lost to offshore books many of which exist in countries that our leaders call allies.
Thunder Vally Casino offers it patrons the opportuniy to win $10,000 every week during the NFL season. Every Sunday during the season starting at 10:15AM and continuing until 9:00AM the following Sunday participants are asked to pick all NFL games (for the following week’s games) against the SPREAD posted and to predict the final score of the Monday night game. How generous of them!! Do you know the REAL odds of picking every NFL game correctly against the spread? Let alone hitting the correct final score on Monday night’s game. The casino also offers another contest that promises $1,000,000 to anyone able to pick 180 NFL winners over the course of the season. Their generosity doesn’t overwhelm me but what does get my attention is that they are able to use the NFL games to include point spreads to promote their gaming business. I know that the NFL took exception and legal action to stop the state of Oregon for tying one of their state lottery games to their games. What’s the difference here? Is it because the contestants aren’t actually buying the tickets? If the league is so worried about their image and wants to steer clear of any ties to gambling why do they allow these “contests” to exist?
If I were commissioner the Thunder Valley’s other contest would be even more troublesome to me. This one involves individual players in a game called Fantasy Challenge. Here the contestants are asked to pick one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end and one kicker. The scoring system is similar to that of friendly fantasy games played across the country. The top 21 players with the highest overall scores win “CASH” prizes every week. Isn’t this gambling? Now I am not writing this to pick on Thunder Valley Casino but instead just calling to the attention of our politicians the kind of money that can be generated by legalizing sports betting in the other 49 states. They have been unable to stop this activity so why not profit from it? Thanks for listening and let’s chat next Friday.
Stat of the Day: Over the last twenty seasons the Detroit Lions are 13-7 (65%) against the number in their first game AFTER their Turkey Day contest.
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