Betting Lines On High School Football Games Draw ControversyOffshore Site Defends Betting On Minors |
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Just as federal legislators have begun looking into regulating sports betting and perhaps even eliminating prop bets on college athletes, a report has emerged about on an offshore betting site offering action on a Texas state high school football matchup.
Austin Westlake was set to battle Fort Worth North Crowley last weekend in the 6A Division I football championship at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. In the days before the game, Westlake Athletic Director Callan Nokes became aware that BetOnline was actually offering a line on the game.
“I don’t think gambling should be associated with high school football,” Nokes told Yahoo Sports. “It’s one thing if dads are making friendly little wagers that no one knows about. That’s between them. But when it gets to be corporate and it’s offshore gambling, to me that’s a more serious thing with a lot more money exchanging hands.”
Concerns About Corruption
Football is certainly king in Texas and some of the state’s bigger high schools now have larger stadiums than some college programs. But this may be one of the first times a book has set lines on high school sports.
Nokes and others are concerned with potential corruption that could develop by mixing high school athletes, who are mostly minors, and sports betting. BetOnline not only offered betting on games in Texas, but also key matchups in California, Florida, and Georgia.
The site’s brand manager Dave Mason said the high school wagering menu this year expanded as more bettors became interested in some action on the games. He noted that minors play in some professional sports as well as in international competitions like the Olympics, which regularly feature betting lines by sportsbooks. “People have ethical issues with just about everything these days,” he said.
Mason added that large high school football operations can be big business and that “offering odds at small limits is small time in comparison (to some other sports).”
North Crowley went on to finish a perfect 15-0 season, bearing Westlake in the championship game 50-21.