Rob Manfred snuggles up to another Gambling Company Polymarket

[Vanimal46]

The marketing team deserves a raise with the rebrand to “Prediction Market”… What could go wrong? 

[nicksaviking]

I hate this stuff so much.

Not because I care much about gambling, but I do care how many uncontrolled faucets are pouring money to the people who absolutely have no need for it and won't reinvest it back into the economy. Come on middle class, don't be suckered. If you think you have disposable income to spend, great, spend it locally. Food, shopping, entertainment. The economy isn't going to improve if you're shoveling it to Wall Street and foreign investors.

[Vanimal46]

5 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I hate this stuff so much.

It's okay to just say you hate this stuff too. MLB is likely to ban Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz for life, and both are due on trial to serve prison time. And MLB just partnered with the company advertising the same type of gambling bets Clase and Ortiz are in big trouble for. It's un-regulated gambling branded as "Prediction Market". 

I have personally seen a couple of friends become addicted to sports gambling. Every day without question, who cares which sport. It's abundantly clear where discretionary funds are going for them instead of meeting the group for a drink(s)/activity. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

20 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

I hate this stuff so much.

Not because I care much about gambling, but I do care how many uncontrolled faucets are pouring money to the people who absolutely have no need for it and won't reinvest it back into the economy. Come on middle class, don't be suckered. If you think you have disposable income to spend, great, spend it locally. Food, shopping, entertainment. The economy isn't going to improve if you're shoveling it to Wall Street and foreign investors.

I hear you, but I truly think the middle class hates this **** as much as you think they should. We in the middle class have been so beaten down, and it’s just a few loudmouths or sellouts who fill the space by falsely giving the impression that stuff like this is inevitable or that they are just responding to demand. The downside is that integrity of the game is at stake, but the upside is hey, a 14-yr-old kid can gamble away his family’s savings and hoover money back to the wealthy. Win-win,right?  In my mind, it really is as simple and stupid as people like Manfred seeing an opportunity to enrich himself and his patrons at the expense of rubes like us. No ethics, no self reflection whatsoever. White collar smash-n-grab, nothing more. For now I will set aside my critique of the two party / one party political system in this country that enables this. 

Happy Friday! 🙂

[Parfigliano]

20 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

It's okay to just say you hate this stuff too. MLB is likely to ban Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz for life, and both are due on trial to serve prison time. And MLB just partnered with the company advertising the same type of gambling bets Clase and Ortiz are in big trouble for. It's un-regulated gambling branded as "Prediction Market". 

I have personally seen a couple of friends become addicted to sports gambling. Every day without question, who cares which sport. It's abundantly clear where discretionary funds are going for them instead of meeting the group for a drink(s)/activity. 

I believe the State of AZ has told them to stop advertising/business immediately or be charged with running illegal gambling ops in the State.

[mnfireman]

My personal opinion (and you are welcome to your own) is that Draft Kings and other sports books, and Casino's (Treasure Island and Grand Casino included) should not be allowed to advertise or to be involved in professional sports or their venues due to the fact that it's a bad look as far as people already questioning results and tampering with officials.

[nicksaviking]

Wow, so bipartisan legislation is being proposed to at least stop this stuff in terms of sports betting. I only see two lawmakers mentioned for this being 'bipartisan'. Unsurprisingly the lawmaker on the right is from Utah, which is obviously anti-gambling of any kind. I hope they make this work, but I have doubts considering how much the president's family is now tied into this industry.

If they are able to stop this, it would be great if MLB has a good enough contract and lawyers to make this shady company pay them the 300M anyway.

 

[Mike Sixel]

Polymarket is truly evil. 

[Parfigliano]

On 3/23/2026 at 9:10 AM, nicksaviking said:

Wow, so bipartisan legislation is being proposed to at least stop this stuff in terms of sports betting. I only see two lawmakers mentioned for this being 'bipartisan'. Unsurprisingly the lawmaker on the right is from Utah, which is obviously anti-gambling of any kind. I hope they make this work, but I have doubts considering how much the president's family is now tied into this industry.

If they are able to stop this, it would be great if MLB has a good enough contract and lawyers to make this shady company pay them the 300M anyway.

 

Im so old I remember when the brother of President Jimmy Carter starting Billy Beer had the GOP foaming at the mouth because of the graft and corruption it represented.

Now legality/illegality is filitered through the lenses of how big a skim the Presidential family rakes.

[Dave Borton]

On 3/19/2026 at 3:27 PM, nicksaviking said:

I hate this stuff so much.

Not because I care much about gambling, but I do care how many uncontrolled faucets are pouring money to the people who absolutely have no need for it ...

I hate it.

Every time I walk into a casino, I see social security checks getting poured in slots.
Every time I see a relative working over his phone during a NCAA basketball game, I cringe.
Every time I see FanDuel logo flash during a pitch on an MLB game, I sigh.

Not some kind of moral prude. I am teaching my grandson to play poker and the reasonableness of friendly bets and purpose of money. I played poker in the service but would push away when the game got ugly; I watched craps but didn't roll the dice.

Just see the desperation and false hopes to nowhere as impediments to well-being within our culture.

[Dave Borton]

Great article from _The Atlantic_ today with an inside look at an author who was given $10,000 corporate money  and asked to write an article after the experience of one year as a gambler.

Mormon, church/family man, soon learns its underbelly.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/04/online-sports-betting-app-addiction/686061/?gift=YHZ6SUNglKLvHr_WPw-MLM8Ab8HjkRJBNTkvZKcXXbU&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share