Wayne Allyn Root
Monday, Aug. 19, 2002

Even Wall Street Has Gotten In on the Game

For decades now, sports gambling has been the "dirty little secret" of American business, a new form of Prohibition in America. Experts (including the U.S. Congress Impact Study on Gambling) estimate that over $380 billion per year are bet on sports in the United States alone – making it hands down (excuse the pun) the most widespread form of gambling here in the USA.

Amazingly, only $2 billion of that total is bet legally in the state of Nevada (the only state where sports betting is legal). That means $378 billion is bet illegally with bookmakers and offshore sportsbooks – that happens to be more money than is spent on the entire U.S. auto industry!

These numbers make sense when you realize that more than 1 out of every 2 adult Americans has a bet each year on the Super Bowl (Source: USA Today). Considering the fact that few (if any) women bet on sports, that translates to virtually every single red-blooded male in this whole country making a bet on the last Sunday in January!

Sports Gambling as Global Phenomenon

Worldwide (adding in sports betting on soccer, cricket, rugby, Formula One and horse racing), the numbers jump to close to a TRILLION dollars! That's easily explained when you realize that American football is not the biggest betting sport in the world – soccer is king when it comes to betting. Now you know why those European soccer fans are so crazy, rowdy, delirious, riotous and even murderous – because so much money is on the line!

And the No. 2 betting sport in the world? NFL football of course, right? Wrong. Football isn't No. 2 either – that honor belongs to cricket. Never heard of it? It's the national sport of India, a nation with a middle class of over 300 million – more than the TOTAL population of the United States!

USA Today recently predicted that online sports betting alone would reach almost $65 billion by 2003. And it's no wonder – estimates are that there will be 15 million gamblers online within a year or two (Source: Investtrend Research).

The fastest-growing segment of online gamblers? No, not the good ol' USA – but rather the Far East! Yes, Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Australia are all online and gambling like crazy! Europeans aren't far behind – of the $38 billion spent this year on online entertainment by Europeans, almost 40 percent will be spent on gambling.

Television Ratings and Gambling

And TV ratings? Don't get me started! Sports betting is the reason TV sports channels and ratings have exploded since 1980. Put a sporting event on TV and viewers will bet on it – or it won't grow.

Take women's basketball, NCAA and WNBA. No one chooses to bet on them – therefore, ratings are non-existent. On the other hand, men's basketball – NCAA and NBA – are huge betting sports, so ratings and viewership are literally through the roof.

Take volleyball – a fast-growing sport as far as filling small stadiums. But TV ratings? Abysmal. Why? No one bets on it, so they won't watch it either.

Take golf and NASCAR. Sleepy sports with little TV interest only a few years ago. Today, men's pro golf and NASCAR are the two fastest-growing betting sports in Las Vegas. Not coincidentally, they are also seeing an explosion in TV ratings. Tiger Woods and Jeff Gordon are NOT what's fattening the wallets of TV Networks and Madison Avenue ad agencies – it's the fact that sports bettors are excited about BETTING on or against Tiger Woods and Jeff Gordon.

Even the players are betting with both fists! A recent cover story in USA Today pointed out that many professional golfers bet big money on themselves with legal bookmakers at the British Open each year.

In Australia, Olympic athletes admitted placing wagers on themselves at the Sydney Olympic Games. In all these countries, gambling on sports is legal – and considered no different from wagering on a stock or the direction of the NASDAQ. Yet in America we hide our heads in the sand while we could be making billions off taxes on this new "national pastime."

Name the No. 1 American sports TV event. Super Bowl, of course. Not a coincidence, then, that it just happens to be the No. 1 annual sports betting event in America too.

The No. 2 TV ratings grabber each year? The NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. Not a coincidence, then, that the No. 2 annual sports betting event in America happens to be March Madness!

What is the number No. 1 TV sports event outside the USA? World Cup soccer. And you guessed it – it is also the No. 1 sports betting event outside the USA.

And the No. 1 TV sports franchise ratings grabber of all time? "Monday Night Football." What has become a Monday night TV viewing "institution," always rated in the top 10 TV shows of the year for over 30 consecutive years, also just happens to be the biggest betting event of any NFL week!

Why is "Monday Night Football" so important and popular? Any sports bettor will tell you that no matter how much a gambler has won or lost over the weekend, he will "double down" (risk it all) on "Monday Night Football." That's precisely why Tuesday is "payday" for all bookmakers in America during football season – because "Monday Night Football" officially ends the betting week.

With billions of dollars changing hands on one or two key plays late in the fourth quarter on Monday nights, it's no wonder so many fans stay tuned to ABC. And no coincidence that advertisers like Mercedes Benz and Charles Schwab and E*Trade spend tens of millions advertising late into the fourth quarter. Without gambling, Madison Avenue would be crippled.

Sports Gambling Creates Entire Industries

Entire industries have even been built by sports betting. Take satellite TV networks like DirectTV and EchoStar. Why would anyone choose to own an expensive satellite dish? Because all 16 NFL games per weekend are available on a Sunday – only on satellite TV! Because a package of 10 to 14 NCAA football or basketball games are available each weekend – only on satellite TV! Because championship pay-per-view boxing events are available – only on satellite TV.

All are sporting events that bettors want to watch – so they can see their "investment" running for a touchdown ... or sacking the quarterback ... or dunking the ball into the basket ... or TKO'ing his opponent in the ring. Yes, betting on sports is the primary reason satellite TV exists today!

Sports Gambling Is Nothing More Than Entertainment

So, what are the reasons that sports gambling is growing so fast and furiously here in America and across the globe? For the same reason Las Vegas is growing so fast and furiously. Vegas is now the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and the No. 1 tourist destination in America (close to 40 million annual visitors).

Gambling stocks are rated No. 1 for price performance by Investor's Business Daily. Lotto fever is exploding now in almost every state (only Utah and Tennessee lack some form of state-run gambling). Horse race betting on TV or online is now legal in 39 states. And casinos are proliferating in the strangest of places – on riverboats, cruise ships and Indian reservations.

Gambling is now more than pure chance – it's an accepted form of good old-fashioned ENTERTAINMENT.

And there is no greater form of gambling entertainment than sports betting. Let me explain. If tonight you choose to take your spouse or "significant other" to dinner and a Broadway play (whether in New York or any major metropolis) – or for that matter, dinner and an NBA game – you will spend several hundred dollars. Perhaps as much as $500, if you bring your whole family or choose front-row seats. That's called entertainment – you have to pay to get entertained.

But sports betting is a whole new twist – and a unique one. You see, if you take that same $300 to $500 and you bet it on a game, you now get up to four hours of incredible entertainment: highs, lows, adrenaline rush, shouting, screaming, cheering, laughing, crying. And you get to sit in your living room watching a big-screen TV and sharing this entertainment and adrenaline rush with two or three buddies ... or at a sports bar with perhaps a dozen friends.

When it's over, if you lose you just spent your money on four hours of entertainment (just like that Broadway play or NBA game). But if you win (and you have a 50-50 chance), it's the only form of entertainment in the world that PAYS YOU to enjoy yourself! Incredible. No wonder sports gambling is America's new Prohibition! It's a heck of a lot more fun than the old form of Prohibition – and without the hangover or the possibility of dying (no one ever died in a "driving under the influence of gambling" accident).

Sports Gambling Popular on Main Street ... and Wall Street

Now here's the clincher: Even Wall Street is getting in on the act. I don't mean to sound like a proud father bragging about his newborn son, but GWIN is my new baby! GWIN is the stock symbol for Global Sports & Entertainment Inc., America's only publicly traded sports handicapping firm.

Our flagship TV property is The WinningEDGE, a sports handicapping TV show reaching over 100 million American TV households each football season on Fox Sports Net and PAX TV Network. It is modeled after "Wall Street Week," with celebrity sports- handicapping experts and analysts picking and predicting winners for our viewing audience. Viewers then call our company to subscribe for more extensive fee-based advice.

Our World Champion professional handicappers fill the role of champion stock analysts at a Merrill Lynch or Charles Schwab. Just as at a Wall Street brokerage, our well-heeled clients pay us a fee to pick winners that fatten their wallets.

The only real difference is that our experts have had a heck of a lot better record than Wall Street's experts in the last two years! Imagine: Sports betting – the new American Prohibition – is now publicly traded on Wall Street! And I get to play the role of Peter Lynch of Fidelity – who would have bet on that one!

Sports Gambling and the GOP

I'll end with a little winning advice – after all, that's what millions of American TV viewers pay me for.

Sports betting is undeniably the most widespread and popular form of gambling in America. And that is not likely to change anytime soon, regardless of what the politicians do.

Prohibition didn't work in the 1920s – human nature predicts that anything we try to ban or restrict just proliferates and moves underground. Not only didn't Prohibition work – it created organized crime. If there had been no Prohibition, there would have been no Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel or Lucky Luciano.

Conservative Republican politicians should not be opposing the legalization of sports gambling and Internet gambling. They should be falling all over themselves to LEGALIZE it, regulate it and tax it – thereby creating billions of dollars for education, budget deficit reduction, or homeland defense (with enough left over to support and educate those unfortunate Americans with a gambling problem).

Sports gambling provides billions of dollars of new revenue stream just sitting there waiting for the taking. And it involves state's rights (Nevada and other states have a right to choose whether their citizens can gamble or not), personal responsibility, free enterprise and freedom from government interference – all issues Republicans support.

Gambling on sports is NOT immoral – it's entertainment. Risk is what breeds success – whether buying stocks on Wall Street, opening a small business, leaving another country to immigrate to America, or even deciding to spend the rest of your life with a partner (marriage) – all successful Americans are risk-takers. It's as natural as apple pie, motherhood and Wall Street.

Why do I love gambling? I come from a family of risk-takers: My grandparents sailed to a strange land called America with no friends, relatives or money. When they chose to walk through Ellis Island they were making the bet of a lifetime (one that paid off big for generations to come). Most Americans love gambling because they are descended from gamblers.

Still not convinced? Then I suggest Republican politicians take a page from "The Gipper" Ronald Reagan's playbook: "Dutch" always said that you should never underestimate the intelligence and common sense of the American public.

Americans love gambling. Sports gambling is America's most widespread form of gambling. Ironically, the one demographic group that accounts for most of the legal sports betting in Nevada also happens to be the core constituency of the GOP – namely, high-income, college-educated, risk-oriented white males. If you don't believe me, please observe the crowds at one of Nevada's legal sportsbooks during Super Bowl week or March Madness.

Moreover, as a 15-year veteran of this business (and a lifelong Republican supporter, contributor and future candidate), I can tell you with certainty that sports betting is most popular in the South (the geographic heart of GOP strength) and the Midwest (the key battlegrounds in the 2000 presidential campaign). My winning advice to conservative Republicans is simple: Listen to the roar of the engine (Americans LOVE to bet on sports). Then choose to get on board the train – or prepare to get run over!

Wayne Allyn Root is chairman & CEO of Global Sports & Entertainment (OTC: GWIN) and Host/Executive Producer of "The WinningEDGE" football pre-game show – starting Saturday, Sept. 7, on Saturday mornings on PAX TV Network and Fox Sports Net. Wayne is also the creator of the popular sports handicapping Web site: winningEDGE.com. You can contact Wayne at WAR@WinningEDGE.com.

A product that might interest you:
FREE – 4 Months to NewsMax.com's Magazine. Check It Out – Get four FREE