- Published: November 17, 2021
- Updated: November 17, 2021
- University / College: Northwestern University
- Language: English
- Downloads: 7
Gambling is an act that is practiced in many parts of the world. The act is evident in almost all major economic and entertaining activities. Gambling has been an illegal act for quite some time. However, it is slowly getting accepted and even some governments have formulated regulatory policies to control the act.
Sports serve as a major revenue source for many countries. This has led to the increase in betting and gambling acts, which is majorly done by sports agents. Most of these sports agents break codes of ethics just to make sure they remain afloat in sports.
The major role of sports agents is to discover and market new talent, who become their clients. They are supposed to represent their clients and look for opportunities for them to exhibit their skills. Some sports agents also add up as managers of the sports men and women. For all these, they get to keep a certain percentage of whatever pay that the athlete earns. This has led to increased chances of gambling as the agents want to get the larger share of the pay, as well as get many deals to their credits.
The issue of gambling and betting among the agents has got its benefits and harms. One benefit is that the athlete has more time to concentrate on other important things such as exercising and practice, since there is someone else taking care of other relatively important things. Following their experience in the sporting field, an agent may be in a better position to advice their client on which team to join, what pay to ask for and most importantly, what contract to take or leave.
Having agents who bet and gamble for their clients may be harmful in that it may ruin the reputations o their clients. More to that, agents may mislead their clients so as to favor another client who is paying them better. Following the success of the athletes and sportsmen, chances that small mistakes from the side of the agent may ruin their reputation in the sporting world.
This can be controlled by the sports management setting stringent rules and policies to control gambling and betting. Since gambling is more of a moral vice, it should be completely banned from the society. This would promote fair play and chances or all players. Hefty fines and severe punishments could serve as a big solution to this vice. The sports management could also form associations to protect athletes and sports people from unscrupulous agents.
