Gambling on the Olympics

CNN.com ran an interesting article yesterday about betting on athletes (see Bet on Olympic athletes? This way, it's ok by Ashley Fantz). An organization called Charitybets.org allows anyone to bet on athletes from a list of athletes that have agreed to have their respective performances wagered on. The money goes to a charity of the athlete's choice. The question is whether this is acceptable, given the stigma sports betting has. Since all the proceeds go to charity, supporters believe this idea is a form of societal goodwill since the recipient charities will generate more funding as a result (athletes don't receive any payouts whatsover). Even the US Olympic Committee (USOC) sees this as acceptable since it helps charities. Is there risk? Perhaps. On the surface the risk appears to be more about educating people properly that this isn't really betting...it is a form of fund raising for charities. But there will undoubtedly be people that see this as negative. The question is will this be misunderstood and, consequently, create controversy for athletes and the Games themselves? As I discuss in The Olympic Games Effect, controversies in one form or another have been part of the Olympics both in modern and ancient times, yet the Games continue to maintain a positive reputation. From what the article describes, this is perfectly legitimate and seems to pass the credibility test.

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167 raids - 52 of them on internet gambling enterprises - carried out since beginning of 2012.....