Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's time we got him. We got the man.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We got the man who once fought Evander Holyfield to
a split decision. I have to say Charlie lost the
split decision, but still to go fifteen rounds with Evander
Holyfield standing up at the end and lose on a
split decision says a lot about this man's toughness. Charlie
Gasperino is senior correspondent for the Fox Business Network and
(00:24):
a columnist for The New York Post. And I just
I just love his work on TV and in writing.
And he wrote a wonderful article that I'll tell you
about in a second. But Charlie, thanks for being here.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It's good to see you. Good to see you. What's new.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, yeah, no, a lot is new. And I'm not
going to drag you into politics today. What I want
to talk about is your really really interesting article entitled
how woke NBA executives got mixed up with the mob
in an epic gambling scandal. So part of what fascinated
me about this is, you know, getting into the management
(00:59):
of the leagues and how they might be dealing with
this situation.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
But what really got me was.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
You're talking about your dad and I wonder if you
can kind of start with that, with that part of
the story.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Well, my dad gambled a lot, and like he grew
up in a neighborhood in the brons.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
On, it's different now.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
It was an old Italian neighborhood on Gunhill Road in
White Plains. He actually grew up on two thirteenth Street,
which is Gunhill Roads to ten. So it's right that
area where White Plains Road is and it's called Williams Bridge.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
If you go on the on Metro North, that's kind
of where it is. And it's an old fashioned Italian neighborhood.
It was rife with gambling and there there was the mob.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
One of the interesting sort of side notes is that
that's in that neighborhood was the famous Louise Italian American
restaurant from The Godfather. That was a real place. I
actually ate there when I was a kid, So it's
you know, it's that type of place. And you know,
he gambled a lot, and you know he used to
(02:05):
take me to the gambling joints.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I mean I went to all these places.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
And I will say that you know, gambling, I don't
understand why, like college educated rich people are trying to
get so many working class people hooked on this disgusting
vice for a.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Lot of reasons.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
The college educated, rich people are the heads of the NBA,
in the NFL. I mean, this is a bad advice.
I mean this, this bankrupts people. It causes family dysfunction,
which it did to mine, and it's it's and it's like,
I mean, there's no difference between having a bad gambling
habit and being addicted to drugs or alcohol. It often
(02:47):
leads to the same sort of places. They often feed
off each other. My dad wasn't into drugs and alcohol,
but you know, we had some rough.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Times because of this gambling addiction of his.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
So now it's being mainstream. And what I find fascinating
is that sports figures and this.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Is something else that's interesting. There are always sports figures
around those gambling dens in the Bronx.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Back then, it was like Italian American boxers like ro Rock,
you know, the various Rockies so to speak, and and others.
They they were involved in this. They liked the gambling.
It's part of their it's part of their mo and
the same sort of risk taking personalities that brings them
(03:30):
that they use in the courts or in the on
the football field, on the baseball field kind of transfers
over to their their recreational activities. And you know why
Roger Goodell and Adam Silber don't understand this is beyond
me other than they're just like hooked on the money
and it's it's sort of a disgusting money play. And
(03:53):
so you got the combination of the mobs always in gambling,
you you're you're hooking you know, people on a horrible ice.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And on top of that, you know sports sports stars
are they like to gamble.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I mean, you know this and we we've written, we've
read all the stories, not just the illegal type, but
the legals type. Why they want to force force of
that is, you know, make it easy on people's beyond
me other than they're just so addicted to money and
their whole woke.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
That they throw at it all the time about how
they want to.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Make the world a better place, DEI equity, you name.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It is just a cover for their their greed.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And I think I made a good case that that's
that that is that that's what's happening here.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, Well, one quick thing on broadcast radio just watch
your language a little bit, U because it's not cable,
so we got to be careful.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
One of the things that really got me so much
about your story and the dad. Your dad is a
big part of this, and you touched on it just now.
But you know what, from you usually write about things
that you you know a lot about. You know a
lot of people. There's lots of great information. But it's
rare that I've read a piece from you that felt
(05:15):
as personal as this, and and even the way you
talk about with some of the language you use, you know,
like this disgusting vice and hooking people and and all
this stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And you can feel it.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
When I'm reading you, when I'm reading this, like you're
you're not just mad, You're you're you're disgusted.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, because it's a disgusting habit.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I don't gamble, by the way, I one of the
reason why I don't gamble is because you know, my
dad's gambling ruined a lot of dinners, and you know,
ruined a lot of my childhood and and and I
and it's it's.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And and and you know he would even admit it.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
The house always wins, almost always wins, right, So you know,
you're not gonna it's it's it's a business that makes
a lot of money. They just makes a lot of
money because because the house usually wins. So why would
they entice people to get involved in something like that
that they know that their.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Fans are going to lose money on? Think about that.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You have a client tele your fans, yet you tell
them to engage in an activity that's going to cost
them money and and you know, and by the way,
a lot of money. It's not just fun. I mean,
it might be fun for some people, but for a
lot of people, it's it's an addiction. Because this is
an addictive thing. It's like saying, it's like, you know,
(06:38):
legalizing cocaine, why don't you just run we just go
all out and legalized drugs.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
And because this is kind of a drug, and maybe
we should do that, but don't tell me.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
You know, I've seen the rationalizations they've used for legalizing
the stuff. Oh, gets it out of the shadows. What's
the difference to whether it's in the shadows or not.
By the way, it's never going to leave the shadows.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Right, and I think it's never going to leave them,
not shadows. I don't think we're going to put this
genie back in the bottle. But to directly answer your question,
and of course you know the answer. It's not like
you're actually asking me or anybody else why are they
doing this. They're doing this because on the margin, they
will get people who who like gambling more than they
like sports, probably, and now that they have the opportunity
(07:24):
to gamble on the sport, it will cause them to
tune in and watch the game, so they'll have more viewers,
so they can sell advertising for more money. And in
the league and the teams and the players and all
of them can make more money. Right, It's always about
the money. Am I missing something?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And yes, and it's span engagement as you're pointing out.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
But also as I pointed out, they make a lot
of money through advertising and deals and sponsorships with these
sports books, right, So I mean there's a whole ecosystem
here they and when I say a lot of money,
the whole business itself for sports gambling worldwide, and this
is across some globe.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's something like a hundred billion.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
The US Sports League's Major League Baseball, basketball, football, they
take about a thirteen fourteen billion dollar cut out of that,
which is not insignificant. And by the way, you can't
measure the fan engagement part that you know, that's you know,
you don't know whether someone's showing up to the game
or tuning in because of gambling or whatever. Right, it's
(08:27):
just it is and it permeates the entire game. I mean,
have you noticed, I have noticed.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And by the way, just put some time on TV.
I mean, it's just pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Right. Well, these days, you know, you'll watch you'll watch
some sports coverage and in the in the in the
chiron at the bottom, it'll show that the lines on
the game, not just you know, the the information you
used to have, and it'll have you know, the Patriots,
you know, minus four and a half, and it's and
it's everywhere. And then you also even have the people
who are talking on the score advertising just the way
(09:02):
they might advertise for anything else, I guess, but advertising
for usually one of these large gambling companies. I won't
use I won't use any names, but it's clear that
there's an immense amount, an immense amount of money involved there.
And just so you know, Charlie, I I really really
like betting on football, but I'm not exaggerating when I
(09:24):
tell you that my average bet on a weekend is
somewhere around forty cents, and I might make ten bets
and I might lose a dollar or two dollars on
a weekend. So while I'm not falling into that kind
of addiction and very damaging thing that you talk about,
you hear these stories, and now I hear the stories
(09:46):
about your dad, and it it paints a very different picture,
and it makes you think about it differently.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, I mean not everybody. Most people can. A lot
of people can. It's sort of control their habit by
my dad.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
I mean, we didn't go without food, thank god. You know,
it wasn't that bad.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
But you know this, this.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Stuff builds on each other, It builds on itself. You
know what I'm saying. It's not a harmless vice. You
know what I'm saying. You know, it's it's you know,
scary stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
And you know, I'm just wondering, Okay, they make some
money out of this, they.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Get some fan engagement, but isn't really worth it in
the end.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And and I think, you know, these guys, you know,
they're they're making a financial decision that it is what
they care about is the money. But and they're greedy,
and you know, but they are like also hypocrites. And
their hypocrisy is if you're gonna tell me that I
live in a country, the United States of America that's
been systemically racist, horrible place for years, treated people horribly.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
That that that you know.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
We should take multiple national anthems because the place is
such a horrible place. And then on top of that,
you feed of ice like gambling. That's, in my view, hypocrisy.
So that's what you know, they you know they do that.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Charlie Gasprino's piece in the New York Post, how woke
NBA executives got mixed up with the mob in an
epping epic gambling scandal, it's a it's a very fascinating
piece because it goes way beyond just reporting about the
scandals themselves and and really gets you to think about,
as Charlie just described in this conversation, the harm that
(11:37):
it seems like sports leagues and the people who are
running sports leagues, the harm that they are willing to
submit their fans too in order to make some extra
money advertising and and it really is a piece that
made me think a lot, Charlie and I appreciate that.
Thanks so much for your time as always, so yeah,
(11:59):
you got it.
It's time we got him. We got the man.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We got the man who once fought Evander Holyfield to
a split decision. I have to say Charlie lost the
split decision, but still to go fifteen rounds with Evander
Holyfield standing up at the end and lose on a
split decision says a lot about this man's toughness. Charlie
Gasperino is senior correspondent for the Fox Business Network and
(00:24):
a columnist for The New York Post. And I just
I just love his work on TV and in writing.
And he wrote a wonderful article that I'll tell you
about in a second. But Charlie, thanks for being here.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
It's good to see you. Good to see you. What's new.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, yeah, no, a lot is new. And I'm not
going to drag you into politics today. What I want
to talk about is your really really interesting article entitled
how woke NBA executives got mixed up with the mob
in an epic gambling scandal. So part of what fascinated
me about this is, you know, getting into the management
(00:59):
of the leagues and how they might be dealing with
this situation.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
But what really got me was.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
You're talking about your dad and I wonder if you
can kind of start with that, with that part of
the story.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Well, my dad gambled a lot, and like he grew
up in a neighborhood in the brons.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
On, it's different now.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
It was an old Italian neighborhood on Gunhill Road in
White Plains. He actually grew up on two thirteenth Street,
which is Gunhill Roads to ten. So it's right that
area where White Plains Road is and it's called Williams Bridge.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
If you go on the on Metro North, that's kind
of where it is. And it's an old fashioned Italian neighborhood.
It was rife with gambling and there there was the mob.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
One of the interesting sort of side notes is that
that's in that neighborhood was the famous Louise Italian American
restaurant from The Godfather. That was a real place. I
actually ate there when I was a kid, So it's
you know, it's that type of place. And you know,
he gambled a lot, and you know he used to
(02:05):
take me to the gambling joints.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I mean I went to all these places.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
And I will say that you know, gambling, I don't
understand why, like college educated rich people are trying to
get so many working class people hooked on this disgusting
vice for a.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Lot of reasons.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
The college educated, rich people are the heads of the NBA,
in the NFL. I mean, this is a bad advice.
I mean this, this bankrupts people. It causes family dysfunction,
which it did to mine, and it's it's and it's like,
I mean, there's no difference between having a bad gambling
habit and being addicted to drugs or alcohol. It often
(02:47):
leads to the same sort of places. They often feed
off each other. My dad wasn't into drugs and alcohol,
but you know, we had some rough.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Times because of this gambling addiction of his.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
So now it's being mainstream. And what I find fascinating
is that sports figures and this.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Is something else that's interesting. There are always sports figures
around those gambling dens in the Bronx.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Back then, it was like Italian American boxers like ro Rock,
you know, the various Rockies so to speak, and and others.
They they were involved in this. They liked the gambling.
It's part of their it's part of their mo and
the same sort of risk taking personalities that brings them
(03:30):
that they use in the courts or in the on
the football field, on the baseball field kind of transfers
over to their their recreational activities. And you know why
Roger Goodell and Adam Silber don't understand this is beyond
me other than they're just like hooked on the money
and it's it's sort of a disgusting money play. And
(03:53):
so you got the combination of the mobs always in gambling,
you you're you're hooking you know, people on a horrible ice.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And on top of that, you know sports sports stars
are they like to gamble.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I mean, you know this and we we've written, we've
read all the stories, not just the illegal type, but
the legals type. Why they want to force force of
that is, you know, make it easy on people's beyond
me other than they're just so addicted to money and
their whole woke.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
That they throw at it all the time about how
they want to.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Make the world a better place, DEI equity, you name.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
It is just a cover for their their greed.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
And I think I made a good case that that's
that that is that that's what's happening here.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, Well, one quick thing on broadcast radio just watch
your language a little bit, U because it's not cable,
so we got to be careful.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
One of the things that really got me so much
about your story and the dad. Your dad is a
big part of this, and you touched on it just now.
But you know what, from you usually write about things
that you you know a lot about. You know a
lot of people. There's lots of great information. But it's
rare that I've read a piece from you that felt
(05:15):
as personal as this, and and even the way you
talk about with some of the language you use, you know,
like this disgusting vice and hooking people and and all
this stuff.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And you can feel it.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
When I'm reading you, when I'm reading this, like you're
you're not just mad, You're you're you're disgusted.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Yeah, because it's a disgusting habit.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I don't gamble, by the way, I one of the
reason why I don't gamble is because you know, my
dad's gambling ruined a lot of dinners, and you know,
ruined a lot of my childhood and and and I
and it's it's.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And and and you know he would even admit it.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
The house always wins, almost always wins, right, So you know,
you're not gonna it's it's it's a business that makes
a lot of money. They just makes a lot of
money because because the house usually wins. So why would
they entice people to get involved in something like that
that they know that their.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Fans are going to lose money on? Think about that.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You have a client tele your fans, yet you tell
them to engage in an activity that's going to cost
them money and and you know, and by the way,
a lot of money. It's not just fun. I mean,
it might be fun for some people, but for a
lot of people, it's it's an addiction. Because this is
an addictive thing. It's like saying, it's like, you know,
(06:38):
legalizing cocaine, why don't you just run we just go
all out and legalized drugs.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
And because this is kind of a drug, and maybe
we should do that, but don't tell me.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
You know, I've seen the rationalizations they've used for legalizing
the stuff. Oh, gets it out of the shadows. What's
the difference to whether it's in the shadows or not.
By the way, it's never going to leave the shadows.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Right, and I think it's never going to leave them,
not shadows. I don't think we're going to put this
genie back in the bottle. But to directly answer your question,
and of course you know the answer. It's not like
you're actually asking me or anybody else why are they
doing this. They're doing this because on the margin, they
will get people who who like gambling more than they
like sports, probably, and now that they have the opportunity
(07:24):
to gamble on the sport, it will cause them to
tune in and watch the game, so they'll have more viewers,
so they can sell advertising for more money. And in
the league and the teams and the players and all
of them can make more money. Right, It's always about
the money. Am I missing something?
Speaker 1 (07:41):
And yes, and it's span engagement as you're pointing out.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
But also as I pointed out, they make a lot
of money through advertising and deals and sponsorships with these
sports books, right, So I mean there's a whole ecosystem
here they and when I say a lot of money,
the whole business itself for sports gambling worldwide, and this
is across some globe.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's something like a hundred billion.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
The US Sports League's Major League Baseball, basketball, football, they
take about a thirteen fourteen billion dollar cut out of that,
which is not insignificant. And by the way, you can't
measure the fan engagement part that you know, that's you know,
you don't know whether someone's showing up to the game
or tuning in because of gambling or whatever. Right, it's
(08:27):
just it is and it permeates the entire game. I mean,
have you noticed, I have noticed.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
And by the way, just put some time on TV.
I mean, it's just pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Right. Well, these days, you know, you'll watch you'll watch
some sports coverage and in the in the in the
chiron at the bottom, it'll show that the lines on
the game, not just you know, the the information you
used to have, and it'll have you know, the Patriots,
you know, minus four and a half, and it's and
it's everywhere. And then you also even have the people
who are talking on the score advertising just the way
(09:02):
they might advertise for anything else, I guess, but advertising
for usually one of these large gambling companies. I won't
use I won't use any names, but it's clear that
there's an immense amount, an immense amount of money involved there.
And just so you know, Charlie, I I really really
like betting on football, but I'm not exaggerating when I
(09:24):
tell you that my average bet on a weekend is
somewhere around forty cents, and I might make ten bets
and I might lose a dollar or two dollars on
a weekend. So while I'm not falling into that kind
of addiction and very damaging thing that you talk about,
you hear these stories, and now I hear the stories
(09:46):
about your dad, and it it paints a very different picture,
and it makes you think about it differently.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, I mean not everybody. Most people can. A lot
of people can. It's sort of control their habit by
my dad.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
I mean, we didn't go without food, thank god. You know,
it wasn't that bad.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
But you know this, this.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Stuff builds on each other, It builds on itself. You
know what I'm saying. It's not a harmless vice. You
know what I'm saying. You know, it's it's you know,
scary stuff.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
And you know, I'm just wondering, Okay, they make some
money out of this, they.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
Get some fan engagement, but isn't really worth it in
the end.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
And and I think, you know, these guys, you know,
they're they're making a financial decision that it is what
they care about is the money. But and they're greedy,
and you know, but they are like also hypocrites. And
their hypocrisy is if you're gonna tell me that I
live in a country, the United States of America that's
been systemically racist, horrible place for years, treated people horribly.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
That that that you know.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
We should take multiple national anthems because the place is
such a horrible place. And then on top of that,
you feed of ice like gambling. That's, in my view, hypocrisy.
So that's what you know, they you know they do that.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
Charlie Gasprino's piece in the New York Post, how woke
NBA executives got mixed up with the mob in an
epping epic gambling scandal, it's a it's a very fascinating
piece because it goes way beyond just reporting about the
scandals themselves and and really gets you to think about,
as Charlie just described in this conversation, the harm that
(11:37):
it seems like sports leagues and the people who are
running sports leagues, the harm that they are willing to
submit their fans too in order to make some extra
money advertising and and it really is a piece that
made me think a lot, Charlie and I appreciate that.
Thanks so much for your time as always, so yeah,
(11:59):
you got it.
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