With sports betting legal in over 30 U.S. states, there aren’t many athletes who don’t periodically hear from a fan or two about how their performances impacted a bet.
Those usually one-sided interactions are typically limited to social media or during games. Especially for an athlete based in a state where betting isn’t legal, like Stanford basketball star Haley Jones. So, as you can imagine, playing a game in Las Vegas is a different experience than what she’s used to.
Vegas has hosted the Pac-12 women’s basketball tournament since 2019. Up until this year, Stanford had reached the final each time, winning the last two. This year’s team had its time shortened with a semifinal loss to UCLA, but that didn’t make the betting chatter any less noticeable.
“We’re walking through the casino to get to our games, and there’s the betting stations and this and that, and I can feel people’s eyes on me and I’m like, ‘Oh gosh, your money is in my hands. That’s sketchy,'” Jones said in a conversation with FTW about her new podcast, Sometimes I Hoop. “I feel like people just take it more intense since they have something personal on the line. After games, if I’m walking through the casino after we lose or after we win, they’re like, ‘Oh, you won me this. Oh, you lost me that.’ And I’m just like, what the heck. I was just over here trying to get back and get to post-game meal and shower. I don’t need you shouting at me right now. So I think it’s definitely created a different environment.”
That environment is likely more intense for a team like Stanford that has achieved so much in Jones’ four years on campus. The Cardinal have been to each of the last two Final Fours, winning it all Jones’ sophomore year. As this year’s tournament approaches, their +700 title odds at DraftKings are second only to undefeated South Carolina.
As legal betting has exploded during that time, conversations about lines have even penetrated Jones’ own circle. But if you plan on chatting her up about point spreads and parlays, just know she hasn’t caught up on all the lingo.
“My brother, he’ll be on ESPN like ‘Oh my gosh, you guys are up this, down that.’ And I’m like, I don’t know what any of that means, so awesome,” the 2021 Final Four Most Outstanding Player said. “But I think fans are in some cases more into it because they have money on the line. So it’s a lot more intense of a crowd.”
That noise spills over on to social media, but Jones has found a way to filter it out.
“You definitely get tagged and whatnot, but there’s different security and privacy things that I’ve been able to put on my account so I’m not just getting tagged in a million hate messages of ‘Haley, you lost me $1,000!'”
