In football, point shaving involves intentionally altering the score to win a bet. These bets are placed based on the spread, not the final score.
As a result, the players will not necessarily need to cause their team to lose the game. Instead, they will play the game with the intention of beating the opponent by a certain amount.
For those of you unfamiliar with sports gambling, let’s say the Buffalo Bills are expected to win their next game by 7 points.
You can either bet that they will win by more than seven points or less than seven points.
It is possible for a player to intentionally alter the score to win their bet by taking a bet they will win the game by fewer than seven points.
Shaving points essentially means altering the score to win a bet on your own team.
How It Works
How does point shaving work? If you don’t already know, players cannot simply place a bet at their local sportsbook.
It is usually civilians who place the bets since these players are not allowed to wager on their own games.
It is most commonly organized crime members, such as gangs and mobs, who engage in these types of gambling since it is illegal.
People who make point shaving bets usually have a lot of money, which allows them to place large wagers.
Athletes who join this scheme are paid for their efforts in helping to shave points. This is how athletes are usually convinced to join.
A player will then choose a game to bet on, placing their bet prior to the game starting. Then they will play the game, hoping to win it.
If the game played according to plan, the player and those who bet will be paid.
Most Famous Cases Of Point Shaving
Boston College Basketball Scandal
In the 1978-1979 college basketball season, the mob worked with many college basketball players and an assistant coach to shave points.
For eight months, the mob was able to make around one hundred thousand dollars running this points shaving scandal by paying out $2500 per game.
Tulane Men’s Basketball
A famous example of point-shaving in sports is the Tulane men’s basketball team, which was banned for four seasons after it was caught shaving points in 1984-1985.
The Longest Yard
Paul Crew, the quarterback in the movie The Longest Yard, was kicked out of the league for point shaving. This means he was attempting to manipulate the score of his games to win money.
In Football, Which Positions have a Point Shave
Point shaving can technically be done by any player on a football team, but since only a few positions regularly score points, some positions are more useful than others.
Quarterback
In a football game, the quarterback is the player most responsible for earning his team’s points on offense.
If the quarterback wants his team to score, he could throw an interception or intentionally fumble the ball.
Besides the center, the quarterback is the only position in football that touches the ball every play. If one position had an impact on a game’s outcome, it would be the quarterback.
Kicker
There is another position that is capable of shaving points from the scoreboard: kickers. Look up the list of all-time point scorers in football and you’ll find kickers at the top.
As a result, these players are able to manipulate the score by scoring a large number of points.
Football kicks are missed quite often, so a kicker would be able to miss a field goal without batting an eye.
All things considered, the kicker has no way of determining whether a field goal will determine a team’s victory.
As a result, kickers cannot participate in this type of scheme in football.
What is the Reason for the Dislike of Point Shaving?
It is considered bad form to shave points in sports. The first reason is that you are actively trying to hurt your team. When you shave points to win by a smaller margin, you are actively trying to hurt your team.
The coaches, players, and other staff members of these teams are all working to make these teams the best they can be.
Therefore, point-shaving is quite a betrayal to everyone they worked with.
Furthermore, point shaving makes a mockery of the league. Sports leagues are about competition, and if the competition is rigged, then it’s not really a competition.
Those who cheer for teams or bet on teams will no longer be able to trust the league as a whole. This is why leagues will crack down very hard on anyone betting on their leagues.
You can read more about the NFL being rigged or about NFL teams tanking games to get a better draft pick if you want to learn more.