Sports leagues walk fine line when associated with gambling

VANCOUVER -- Taking bets on sporting events must surely be one of the world's oldest professions.
There had to be bookies in ancient Greece who laid odds on the results of chariot races. Maybe they even sold daily form charts with past performances.
So it's a natural progression for modern-day sports teams to enter into marketing and sponsorship arrangements with gambling companies. Both businesses appeal to a similar audience.
But leagues walk a razor-thin line between maintaining a symbiotic business relationship with gambling interests and upholding the integrity of their games. Public relations horror stories ensue when league players or officials get caught up in gambling scandals.
Just think of the fallout after it was revealed disgraced superstar Pete Rose bet on baseball games when he managed the Cincinnati Reds in 1987 or when former NBA referee Tim Donaghy was sentenced this year to 15 months in prison for betting on basketball games.
The NHL reinstated former Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet earlier this year after he dealt with charges related to his involvement in a New Jersey-based gambling ring. None of the charges involved betting on hockey.
"You can't have any perception among fans that anything about your game can be subject to any outside influence," NHL spokesperson John Dellapina said in an interview. "That's why the basic ban on betting on hockey exists for anybody involved with the league."
While NHL players can't bet on hockey, referees and linesmen can't even go to a casino or racetrack or poker hall or Jai-Alai facility. The game officials' collective bargaining agreement with the league forbids them from associating with gamblers or other "notorious undesirable characters."
The NBA won't let its referees visit casinos during the season, but will permit it in the off-season if the officials notify the league in advance. The CFL allows its game officials to go to casinos, but reminds them they carry higher expectations, based on the nature of their business and the integrity of the game.
But with all those anti-gambling rules in place, NHL teams can still make business deals with casinos and provincial and state lottery corporations.
The Vancouver Canucks recently signed a multi-year partnership with Great Canadian Casinos that includes changing the name of the GM Place club section to "The River Rock Club" -- a reference to Great Canadian's flagship Richmond, B.C., casino.
A news release said the "official casino of the Vancouver Canucks and General Motors Place" will host two VIP road trips and VIP hosting nights as part of their promotions this season.
Great Canadian vice-president Howard Blank said the casino operator has business relationships with the CFL's B.C. Lions and its Hastings Racecourse property has a marketing relationship with the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants. The company's Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam, B.C., features a Lions Den bar dedicated to the football club.
"The teams obviously look for integrity issues and want to make sure we don't try to market to minors," he said. "But we see ourselves as having the exact same demographic -- adult entertainment."