Good morning, baseball fans.
Earlier this week, it was announced that the San Francisco Giants would be partnering with Kalshi, in a very blatantly obvious cash grab. Dave Tobener of SFGate has an absolutely scathing and fantastic commentary on this topic that I highly encourage everyone to read before we move forward because it establishes the facts better than I currently have the brain power to do at the moment, and I share almost all of the same sentiments, so there’s no point in me re-hashing those. Instead, I want to focus on my own experiences.
As Tobener very carefully notes, whatever it is that Kalshi does is technically not gambling. Because lawyers, I assume. But it absolutely is gambling, in my opinion.
I grew up very poor in a part of the country where casino gambling was legal. I watched first-hand how a gambling addiction can have extremely negative impacts on a family, especially when they are already struggling. Which has caused me to be very anti-gambling, on a personal level.
The havoc that gambling can cause is not something I’m willing to overlook in the interest of the Giants owners making more money that they don’t intend to invest in the team.
I’m not saying no one should be allowed to gamble, even if I’m against it personally. But I am saying that gambling is an addiction and it can ruin lives. And making it easier to access by anyone and everyone, anywhere, and at any time is not going to do anything except cause more people to struggle as times become even more financially unstable.
It sickens me just how much MLB on the whole is willing to get into bed with an industry that is actively trying to exploit the financial hardships of their fanbase.
An additional point I would like to bring up is that I have worked with Native American tribal governments for the majority of my career. I’m not speaking on behalf of any particular tribe, just from my own experiences. But as I’m sure most people are aware, the United States government allows federally recognized tribes to own and operate casinos on their reservations. (Presumably at least in part because of the lengthy list of atrocities the government has committed against indigenous communities throughout history.)
This gives tribes financial opportunities to fund their tribal governments, grow their other business enterprises, and support their communities with resources and services for everyone. These can include things like cultural preservation, education support, family support services, and even healthcare services that can sometimes be the only services available at all in some rural communities.
Every legalized form of at-home gambling (whether they want us to call it that or not) further jeopardizes those opportunities and takes dollars out of tribes’ pockets at a time when the federal government is already doing the same.
So, on the whole, I think this move is yet another disappointing decision by a team that is consistently making more and more of them. And yet sadly, I’m not surprised. I have been feeling for a while now that the ownership group is now more reflective of the newer tech-bro version of the Bay Area, and not the version that I grew up in. It makes me sad, but it also makes it just a bit easier for me to move on at the end of this season.
If you or a loved one are struggling with problem gambling, there are free and confidential support services available 24/7.
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks to Oracle Park tonight to begin a four-game series, starting at 6:45 p.m. PT.