You had to expect the Vegas Golden Knights to engage in some sort of shady business practice, didn’t you? We are, after all, in Las Vegas.
The Knights, the world’s first major professional sports franchise to be based in the Gambling Capital of the World, announced a week ago that they had formed a multi-year partnership with a corporation whose name no one has ever heard of and whose acronym is “UpickTrade.” Alternatively, and more strategically for the club, a “sports betting advice service” that would be recognized by the team as an “Official Sports Pick Service Partner.”
However, after Deadspin contacted both the Knights and the NHL to inquire about this new partnership, Vegas abruptly ended the whole thing — just 72 hours after making its big announcement — and killed the arrangement with an icy statement:
As a result of the termination of their sponsorship agreement, the Vegas Golden Knights are no longer affiliated with UpickTrade. At this time, the organization will not make any further statements about the situation.
Ouch. What happened in this location?
Deadspin’s requests for interviews were not met with a response from the NHL’s Golden Knights.
G/O Media may be compensated
In the end, the Knights made the correct decision, even though it was a blunder from the start. Those who are familiar with sports gambling realized right away that it would be a terrible mistake, which is why the club’s announcement tweet was ratio’d so quickly.
Vegas had formed a partnership with a company known colloquially as a “tout.” These are companies that prey on inexperienced or naive bettors by selling picks with exaggerated claims and promising quick financial success. Such shady dealings have been going on for a long time, dating back to the classic scams carried out by Stu Feiner and others using the 1-800-number (who is unsurprisingly also a current employee of Barstool Sports).
To say that the way these so-called “services” are run is “shady” is an understatement. In almost every case, in addition to the “service’s” explicit lies, there is no full transparency of documented win-loss statistics. This means that a potential customer has no way of knowing whether these locations are truly profitable.
Since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA over three years ago, allowing states to allow sports betting if they so desire, there has been more opportunity than ever before to attract those who are easy targets. The Knights intended to elevate their honorific brand by plastering it across in-game and in-arena elements, as well as web and social media platforms. This was to be done without even doing any research on the black market.
And, of all the sports pick-selling scams that Vegas could have chosen from (sadly, there are many), the city chose one that is based in Mexico and has been in business for three years.
The Knights truly escaped a massive disaster by a hair’s breadth. If they hadn’t backed out of the deal, team president Kerry Bubolz would almost certainly have been a lock for our Deadspin Idiot of the Year award at the end of 2021. Maybe in the top ten.
There are numerous reasons why an arrangement like this one between a team and a sponsor will never be seen in any of the North American leagues. However, there was a previous instance of this occurring.
Adam Meyer promoted his website, AdamWins.com, by purchasing premium advertising space behind home plate from the Florida Marlins for several games in 2011. Assume you’re watching Hanley Ramirez at bat or Ricky NolascoNolasco’s pitch on TV when an advertisement for trash picks appears on the screen. Meyer’s career in this venture did not go well, and he is now serving nearly half of an eight-year sentence for fraud. He is currently being held in prison (not to mention extortion, racketeering, and brandishing a firearm). Furthermore, AdamWins.com appears to be for sale.
It is inexplicable how the Knights, who play their home games in Las Vegas, a community that should be more aware of this type of fraudulent behavior than any other city in the country, came to this agreement in the first place. U pick Trades’ website doesn’t even get into the gimmicks; the motto under their logo is “Living Off Sports,” which says exactly what the company does. It is done by a very small number of people.
There are additional warning signs to be aware of. Carlos Lazo, the CEO, takes it a step further, announcing right in the middle of the main page that “over 6,000 customers around the world have transformed their outlook and are now making a living off of sports.” Really?
Because Lazo claims in the press release announcing the initial partnership that UpickTrade has “now grown to over 6,000 subscribers to our sports recommendations service worldwide!” Lazo appears to have made a mistake with his numbers since the company’s inception in 2017. What are you talking about?
So Lazo is claiming that not only is every subscription up but that every one of them is “earning a living off of sports.” The corporation did not respond after Deadspin contacted them about it. Hello, this is Herm Edwards calling; may I speak with you?
That is a bold statement to make. One that is unquestionably and completely false. There isn’t a single company, and there never will be, that has every one of the thousands of subscribers (assuming Lazo’s number of customers is correct) in the black, let alone making enough money to support themselves!
To its credit, UpickTrade acknowledges in a FAQ section of its website that “sports trading is volatile (just like stock market trading), and occasional losing days are unavoidable.” The website assures subscribers, however, that “the most important thing is to follow [its] recommendations as they are given, maintain a level of control over your capital, and remember that this is a long-term way to make extra money.” But, um, why do they call it “additional money” there when their entire website emphasizes the goal of “making a living off of sports?”
On their website, they also have a page titled “Records.” Despite this, the effort expended to appear respectable was, at best, mediocre. There is no timestamp to indicate when they made their selections, and the photographs of bets they claim to have placed are only uploaded after the games have concluded. If that’s the case, how are we supposed to know if they’re attempting to avoid reporting specific losses? Oh, what a mess.
It’s worth noting that UpickTrade hadn’t even updated their performance on picks made between February 25 and February 27 until now. The results from the previous two days are still unavailable.
The bets themselves are the most revolting. Consider this horrifying sample card designed for an Uptick Trade customer. This was from the previous Tuesday, which featured four NBA games, two of which were rather strong money line favorites (betting on a team to win without the spread) and the other two were “alternative lines,” all of which come with a significant amount of additional vigorish.
When it comes to sports betting, this is the epitome of bad form. Nobody wins in the long run (let alone makes a living!) by laying odds that are roughly equivalent to -200. This betting strategy is consistently used by the corporation, even with wagers greater than -300, as revealed by a detailed examination of the pick’s history. If you brought up such a plan in front of an experienced player, they would laugh at you.
Professional sports betting is extremely difficult, and only a small percentage of gamblers meet the requirements to be considered in this category (most likely far below one percent). But now we have a company that was founded only three years ago (!) — which means no evidence of long-term success, let alone short-term success — that promises you will live luxuriously if you pay $89 per month (yuck) for their completely unproven picks. The business in question was founded only three years ago (!). This is the first con lesson.
It’s difficult to understand why the Vegas Golden Knights didn’t simply sign a contract with a bookmaker, as so many other teams have done recently, but that’s exactly what they should have done. It’s possible they just wanted to do something out of the ordinary for a change. It’s possible that they were given an absurdly large sum of money in response.
Because “tout” firms are so universally reviled, I believe it is unlikely that sports will ever be associated with a sponsorship of this type again. That much is certain: whatever happened in Vegas will not be forgotten.