When it came to sports gambling in the United States, we were, for the longest time, holier than thou.
Some newspapers wouldn’t print the betting odds for games because they were above something as vulgar as gambling.
Sports leagues publicly wanted nothing to do with gambling, seeing it as a toxin that could poison their games. The 1919 Black Sox had become Exhibit A for what happens when gamblers infiltrate a sport.
Never mind that those leagues, the NFL in particular, were built on and sustained by gambling. Never mind that NFL teams’ weekly injury reports come out on Tuesdays and then every day after until the game for a reason -- so that gamblers can make bets with as much information as they can possibly possess.