Brief History Of Offshore Sports Books Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

Sports book betting in the past five decades can be attributed to many factors including:

1 -  The ever-expanding mass media marketing of professional and collegiate sports.  The saturation of sporting events in the media has enhanced the public’s familiarity with various types of sports. Cable television and satellite technology has made it possible to bring the games live and direct to the sports books. The three most popular sports for wagering (football, baseball, and basketball) all have major contracts with national and local television providers.

2 -  The decrease in the federal wagering excise tax.  This tax decreased in the 1970s from 10 percent to 2 percent to eventually 0.25 percent on January 1, 1983. This served to convert many of those betting on sports illegally to do so in a legal manner. It made sports gambling a profitable business venture.

3 -  The weakened stigma associated with gambling.  Gambling, especially on sporting events, has been seen a victimless crime or a crime in which the accused has not acted in a manner considered harmful to another.

4 -  Major Nevada resort hotels and casinos discovered that in-house race and sports books were good for business and created substantial  foot traffic through the casino.   Thus, more sports books started to be added to Las Vegas casinos.

5 - The use of the internet in providing more information for sports bettors to be better infomed and to make better sports gambling decisions.  Thus, the advantage of the sports books began to decrease.  And because of the internet, we now have lots of offshore sports books competing for the sports bettor's money.

Gambling on sporting events involves large amounts of money, but just how large may be impossible to determine, because most sportsbook betting is done illegally. Sportsbook betting is legal in only two states: Nevada, through casino sportsbooks, and Oregon, through a state lottery game entitled, "Sports Action." This game is based on games played in the National Football League and is not affected by a federal ban on college wagering, but interestingly, the proceeds derived from this sports lottery game are assigned to support college athletics in the Oregon University System.

I want to place a bet on an offshore sports book now since I don't want to go to Las Vegas today!