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 Mickey Charles, president and CEO of The Sports Network (pictured right) explains why he thinks prohibition of online gambling is a mistake.
“Let's ban life as we know it. Based upon the fanatics and extremists that surround us, those in politics and not in bomb filled autos in Baghdad, what other possible response can there be to their protestations about what you actually enjoy doing? Automobiles create death, as does smoking, drinking, drug addiction, guns that are legally purchased, wars created and fuelled by these same politicos. But, they are concerned and consumed with gambling? Give me a break!! Gambling has been here since the beginning of time and is not destined to vaporise in science fiction fashion and cease to exist. There is much that we cannot escape and, as badly as those items are portrayed, they become part of our daily lives. Addiction, crime, corporate larceny, wars, alcoholism and the oldest profession on the planet.
The right approach should be if you cannot fight it, embrace it. That is usually the intelligent solution to a problem. Then, having done so, make it work for you and you within it, not against you. But the moralistic zealots who seek to impose their misbegotten values on the rest of us, they being the minority and we the majority, have the myopic vision of a turnip. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The more governments do to allegedly combat it, the more it persists and grows, whatever "it" might be on a given day. The public will not be denied. They never are. They become aggravated, angry, irritated and annoyed at politicians who have set themselves up as God-like arbiters of the sensibilities of the populace, their values, pleasures and acceptance levels. The resentment fuels the flame, it does not diminish it.
Why not simply tax the online offshore gambling industry and use the money to fund programs for education, health, welfare, poverty, etc.? Nah, too simple and easy, laden with common sense.
 Gambling is a $90bn business venture in the US annually, taking into account casinos, lotteries (41 states have them), racetracks and other sanctioned forms of wagering. When it comes to casual betting, openly tolerable and inviting, even acceptable by moral standards, the figure grows.
It expands even further with the $6bn-$12bn wagered through use of the internet. Given that one-fourth of the US population visited a casino in 2005 there must be something I am missing between "C'mon seven!" and "Give me the Giants minus six!"
For the record, there is no research available today, no substantiation at all, that wagering on sports has any impact whatsoever on the outcome of a sporting event. You tell me whether it is better to be a corporate executive that can afford to place a few quid on Manchester United or a lottery ticket purchaser that is spending hard-earned savings for an unachievable prize where the odds against him are tens of millions to one and the government does not give a twit. Instead, they encourage all to close savings account, cash in bonds and stocks, dip into the college fund money and buy tickets.
Reports from Mount Olympus clearly state that Zeus, Hades and Poseidon split the Universe by sharing heaven, hell and sea with the throw of the dice. Given that God, as we have come to know Him, risked a being in his own image, is there any denying that gambling is one of the oldest known pursuits of mankind? And you thought the Chicken Ranch in Nevada housed the world's oldest profession?
Archaeological evidence suggests that even the earliest caveman was a gambler. Dice-like objects dating back 40,000 years have been found. Cave drawings depicting gambling offer further proof of the existence of early gamblers. Pairs of dice have even turned up in the ruins of Pompeii and Greek soldiers amused themselves with dice games. Duh!!!! It did not come into existence with the internet.
In the New World, Native Americans invented games of chance and played to predict future harvests and in hopes of curing seriously ill tribal members and along came that colony of gamblers that floated over on the Mayflower, the ones that eventually gambled in revolting against Great Britain in an insurgency funded by lotteries. Washington himself bought the first ticket for a federal lottery in 1793. The Father of the country was, therefore, also one of the fathers of gambling and the cherry tree tale did not change that.
 In 1931, Nevada legalised gambling again and Atlantic City followed suit in 1978 with other states since having legalised various forms of gambling. If they do it, it is good; if you do it, it is evil. Riddle me that one.
In spite of relentless controversy concerning the legality of online gambling within its borders, the US leads the world in the number of online players, and they represent more than half of the overall market.
According to Christiansen Capital Advisors LLC, 51% of the billions in online gambling revenues are generated from within the US. Consider the result a combination of Victoria and Niagara Falls with no way to stop the flow, no damn or law that can ease the torrent. Why not just go down to the base and shower in it, benefit from it, advantage it, encourage all to join in the swim instead of trying to dissuade the multitudes wearing swim suits and holding towels?”
Mickey Charles will provide the Opening Afternoon Address at Sport and Technology: The Conference 2007. For further details visit: www.sportandtechnologyconference.com
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