Sports betting is currently under a lot of scrutiny since it is only legal in certain places in the US and Canada. At the same time, fantasy sports is widespread and there doesn’t seem to be any restrictions at all about playing it online or in person with friends. In fact, on sites like Draftkings, there is quite a lot of money to be made if you win a league.
It seems there are a lot of contradictions when it comes to fantasy sports and gambling. The reason is how similar they seem. After all, if there is money to be won with fantasy sports, then why is that ok but not sports gambling?
Things are not as obvious to the naked eye so it takes a deeper dive to see what the reasons are. In this article, we will go over the similarities between fantasy sports and gambling.
The main differences
Probably the biggest difference between fantasy sports and gambling is that there are plenty of options to play fantasy without spending any money. There are no winnings in that type of scenario either. The reward for winning is simply the thrill of it.
The best NBA bets, or any other type of sports bet on the other hand, requires money up front and will be lost if the bet doesn’t come through. Putting up a wager online is simply not done. And a sports bet would never take on a friendly bet like that. The best you can do is to make a friendly wager with a friend about an outcome of a chosen game, but this is not something that is organized.
The other major difference is that even when you are playing fantasy for money, you aren’t making a wager about a particular game. It involves putting a team together of players from various teams. Then the points they score goes to your team as a whole. If it is a season long league then each week you are pitted against another team owner. At the end of the season the person with the most wins is the champion.
Even when playing a one day league, you are up against another owner and one ame doesn’t help you win or lose.
Gambling is an industry
Although there is a lot of money to be made by those hosting online fantasy leagues, it is nothing compared to the sports betting industry. There is the sports betting center of it all in Las Vegas that sees insane amounts of money pass through. There are millionaires putting up lots of money that fantasy football would never see.
Even the local underground sports book has a lot of money behind it and sees a lot of bets coming through every year.
There is the possibility to win millions on any game of the year and in any sport if you have the money to put down. This simply isn’t the case in fantasy sports.
