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Sports Services - Buyer Beware
This is the time of year where
sports bettors that either have signed up on-line
for something sportsbook or handicapping related,
or have called a 900# tout service in past years,
are getting annuals and rotation schedules in
the mail claiming the top sports services in the
country are the ones included in this years annual.
I say buyer beware, and I know a little something
about the marketplace after being a legitimate
and full time, well known handicapper for 15 years.
It amazes me how bold the claims are in these
rags every I get one. The boys from Boston, SCORE,
come to mind as a big violator of the truth, as
this sports service has been around awhile and
claim to have the inside on every big game, and
claim to have been in contact with coaches of
college and pro teams and advised them on who
to play and why, and the coaches listen. I have
some swamp ground in Arizona I would like to sell
you too! While they have a big name, they are
not documented anywhere, never have been, never
will be for a good reason.
Another rag of a rotation schedule claims that
Blazer Sports ran by Gordon Michaels is the best
service in the USA, followed closely by 9 others,
8 of which I have never heard of. This also has
the top 3 sportsbooks offshore rated, no doubt
with huge affiliate and advertising agreements
with the publisher. By the way, the publisher
ranking the sports services is Blazer Sports and
was exposed on TV 12 years ago with the Sports
Betting Guide, and since has toned it down to
a rotation schedule mass mailing with the same
basic content.
Lets talk about the rules, that common sense
should tell you. Many think if it is written,
it is true. So many times the hype and sales hooks
in these ads are such a stretch, my 11 year old
son could tell me they are a scam. Any sports
service that has different levels of clubs is
a total joke. You have 3 levels of late phone
services, all of which are nothing more than a
BAIT AND SWITCH scam. Meaning to get any money
out of a new comer to the fold of clients is the
goal, these silver tongued devils that you either
call, or call you, want to get anything moneywise
they can out of a potential victim. You can get
the regular service for the season at $700, the
executive club at $1500 a season and the president
round table for $2500 up front (these are scenario
examples). Well, once you lose your rear end in
the lowest level club, you call to complain or
they call you and offer to upgrade you for more
money, and since most recreational gamblers are
desperate to win and make up for losses, they
buy the sales pitch that the other level of service
that is like 80% ATS (which you know is not true
but you want to belive it), and give these guys
more money like they are stupid, and thus the
process of chasing your tail and and following
good money after bad continues.
Unless you know a sports service is legit, avoid
900#'s if possible. If it is a well known firm,
so be it, but other than that, 900#'s are nothing
more than a long distance caller ID scam. In today's
technical world, they can get the caller ID to
show them the person calling, their number, and
their address. These are used for their boiler
rooms for prospect leads, and salespeople call
you and hound you for money with the greatest
inside information game of all time. Once again
there are legit 900#'s, but beware of the individual
and services you have never heard of, even though
the pitch for the winning lock of the year sounds
almost too good to be true, use common sense.
Let me ask you a question. If you receive a rotation
schedule in the mail this week, and it goes through
October, and yet when you get to the 2nd week
in Octobers schedule, and Joe Blow Sports is advertising
his Game of the Year or Lock of the Decade that
particular weekend, does that not raise a red
flag? How in the world does anyone know what the
hell they are doing the second week of October
in July when these are published? They do not,
and you should not buy into it.
This is an example of effective marketing and
misleading a suspect public, that at the end of
the day gives legitimate handicappers like myself
a bad reputation, as being guilty by association
comes into play.
The Bottom line is simple, proven names, legitimate
big named websites, documented services that provide
content, sites and services that offer legitimate
business practices, and a company that can process
credit cards over the phone are your best bet.
If you have a merchant vendor agreement with major
credit cards "in house", you no doubt
have a good credit history and not much in terms
of chargebacks, which means you are selling and
charging what you say you are, with happy customers
not complaining to credit card companies. In 12
years with a merchant vendor agreement, I have
had 2 cahrgebacks out of hundreds of clients,
that speaks volumes for any sports service.
While I have not ever claimed to be the all saints
savior and only shining example of honesty in
a marketplace of unethical competitors, I can
look myself in the mirror and have a clean slate
everyday by telling it like it is, win. lose or
draw. I also affiliate myself with the type of
people and websites that use integrity as their
watchword. I suggest to all to use common sense,
manage your expectations, and choose sports services
wisely, because the temptation of effective marketing
that is not "fact" based has a very
strong appeal to the masses, and that is what
these guys are counting on.
Tony George is President of Midwest Sports Consultants
in Lincoln Nebraska, in business since 1992, and
is a national radio show personality, with 35
Top 10 handicapping awards in all sports documented
since 1996, and winner of the 2003 ultimate handicapping
challenge in the NFL. Tony's plays and content
can be seen daily on the Pro Cappers Network.
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Tony George is a documented member of The Professional
Handicappers League.
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