Sep 30 2016 74 mins 149
Join Greg Carlwood of The Higherside Chats as he talks gambling, game-fixing and sports conspiracy with guest, Brian Tuohy aka "The King of Sports Conspiracies" Brian joins us to help shatter some of the illusions of the sanctimonious sports industry with the information he's presented in several books he's written about corruption, set ups, game-fixing, illegal gambling, wealth extraction and conspiracy theories in sports. 2:42 To kick things off, Greg and Brian discuss how he got started in such an interesting niche. As Tuohy explains, outside of America, the topic of sports corruption through game-fixing and gambling has been a long reported on the topic. On the other hand, in the US, the notion of game-fixing is considered an off-limits topic for sports media. This void in media coverage, Brian explains, can be accounted for when one researches the codependent relationship between sports media and professional sport's leagues. Adding fuel to the fire, Greg and Brian discuss the nefarious filled roster of heavy hitters in the sport's broadcasting realm including ABC, NBC, and FOX. 6:45 Continuing to discuss this theme that sports should be considered nothing more than entertainment, Greg and Brian discuss one of the most damning examples: the Spygate lawsuit. After the New England Patriots were caught cheating by videotaping their opponents, a class action lawsuit was filed by a New York Jet's fan that was also a lawyer. After going to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, the ultimate ruling claimed that when someone purchases a ticket, they are essentially purchasing a license to enter an area and watch and event. This ruling made clear that teams and leagues are not required to abide by any rules when providing the game and fans can't sue because they're dissatisfied with what they saw, really solidifying the point that this is for entertainment purposes only. 15:30 Greg and Brian continue to discuss the structure of the NFL and the red flags of the current financial landscape. With the NFL operating as one giant conglomerate, distributing it's profits among all teams, the motive to win is eliminated. Already operating under the premise of entertainment, leagues are free to create a narrative that engages the largest number of people by using emotionally charged and perfectly crafted sports stories. Evidence of this can be seen in the spectacular season of the Patriots following 9/11, the Superbowl win of the Saints post-Katrina, or even the perfectly primed retirement of Peyton Manning after last year's Superbowl win. 25:15 After covering a few examples of recent cases including high profile athletes gambling in their respective games, Greg and Brian discuss the
