CLEVELAND — A whole new world has opened up to sports fans in Ohio
.
Once the clock struck midnight and the calendar flipped over to 2023 last Sunday, sports gambling became legal in the state of Ohio.
In doing so, Ohio joined more than half the country's states that already offered legal sports betting. Many others could join in 2024. If you've turned on the TV in the last week, you've likely seen an avalanche of ads for one site/app or another.
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The element of sports betting has always coincided with the concern, at least by some, that games could be "fixed" in favor of one outcome or another. That possibility has long existed, as sports gambling has been legal in Las Vegas since 1931. Additional fans across the country being able to place bets on games won't necessarily change anything regarding that element of the situation.
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Still, the intention of many in professional sports and collegiate athletics is to ensure that the expansion of legal sports gambling outside of the state of Nevada doesn't come with any negative consequences. That's especially true considering the partnerships between leagues and books is now more official than it was in the past.
"Yeah, I mean, you can't help but notice it," said Cavs
coach J.B. Bickerstaff. "Watching football games [Sunday], there are the commercials about, I think it's the Caesars book that's coming here … like you can't help but notice it and see that it's there. It's something that I do not pay a ton of attention to and try to stay away from as best as I possibly can."
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"[Vice president of basketball operations and general counsel] Jason Hillman puts us through our training sessions on gambling and all that stuff. So we're aware of it. I do think it's something moving forward that we're gonna have to spend more time educating ourselves and all of our guys on because, I mean, like, I think we know the downside or the dark side of it."
With sports gambling no longer isolated to Las Vegas, it creates a world where just about anything can impact a bet. Even, potentially, Bickerstaff strolling down the street.
"I do think it's something that as we move forward, we're gonna have to further educate ourselves on and just be careful because there's so many things that can lead to trouble, even that you may see as innocent," Bickerstaff said. "Like walking down the street and a guy asking you if so-and-so is playing today. In your mind, you don't think about it in that moment, but that guy goes, turns it into a book or whatever and then it comes back and it's somehow related to you.
"So there are some small things I think we'll have to be more sensitive to and be more aware of."
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As it relates to injury news, Bickerstaff is often vague with his answers to reporters during pregame sessions. He isn't required to give out that information during those sessions, which often take place about an hour and 45 minutes before tip-off, and many coaches don't want to help the other team by announcing who's in or who's out too early. Information like that is key to gamblers.
Bickerstaff doesn't think the league would alter its rules to accommodate those things.
"I would assume, and again I don't make these decisions, that our league would not put us in a position where we had to compromise our competitive advantage," Bickerstaff said. "So I would not assume they would say, and again, I don't know this, don't have an answer to it, I would be surprised if they were like, 'Now at shootaround, because we wanted to give our fans an opportunity to gamble, you have to let us know who's going to play tonight and who's not.'
"Could it happen? Obviously yes. But I would be very surprised if the league didn't do its best to protect us from that."
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Bickerstaff went on to add that he isn't opposed to sports betting being legal in the state, only saying it's something that, now with it being here in Ohio, he and the rest of the organization will want to be as educated on it as possible.
"We are in the business of making money, and it's gonna put a bump in the finances for everybody, which is what you hope. So I'm not opposed to it by any means," Bickerstaff said. "And, again, I genuinely believe that we are part of the best league in the country, of the four major sports, and they're not going to do anything to compromise the integrity of this league. I've got full trust and confidence in that … it's coming, and there's nothing you can do about it, so now you just have to protect yourself the best you possibly can."
The Cavs, and specifically Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, are front and center with all of this, as the team is opening a two-story sports book inside the arena in partnership with Caesars. Fans will be able to wager on games across the country, including the one they're attending in Cleveland. The intended feel is that of a high-end sports bar where fans can also place bets.
The NBA, along with the other major professional sports leagues, are trending toward an acceptance of sports betting being a part of the ecosystem.
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"This is where it's headed," Nic Barlage, CEO of the Cavaliers, Rock Entertainment Group and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, told the Associated Press. "Everything is becoming gamified."
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal:
Cavs' J.B. Bickerstaff reacts to sports betting becoming legal in Ohio
