In this new age of legalized gambling, the NFL needs to worry about an NFL scandal increasing governmental scrutiny of the sport. The NFL also needs to worry about the potential impact of a gambling scandal in some other sport. There’s no real oversight. There will be abuses. There will be violations. There will be shenanigans. If/when a sufficiently big controversy comes to light, Congress might decide to shine the brightest of bulbs on all American sports — not just the one that gave rise to the issue.
While the recent news about golfer Phil Mickelson likely won’t be such a catalyst, it’s enough to raise plenty of eyebrows. Via TheAthletic.com, gambling Billy Walters claims in a new book that Mickelson has wagered more than $1 billion over the past three decades. Most significantly, Mickelson allegedly tried to get Walters to make a $400,000 bet on the 2012 Ryder Cup team, of which Mickelson was a member.
Walters said he declined to do it, reminding Mickelson of Pete Rose. Walters also said he doesn’t know whether Mickelson made the bet elsewhere. (If he did, he lost.)