The cost of overselling and underdelivering; gambling on free Facebook sportsbook

Has Roberto Luongoplayed his last game in a Vancouver Canucks uniform?

If so, it would be a classic case of overselling and underdelivering.

Statistically, he is the best goaltender in franchise history. But losing all three 2011 Stanley Cup final games in Boston and Game 7 on home ice was classic underdelivery.

The highest-paid athlete in Vancouver professional sports history was oversold by both ownership and management.

Luongo played 76 of 82 games as the club’s prime ticket and TV draw in his first season, 2006-07. The Sedin twins remained a work-in-progress, so it was up to Luongo to provide a guaranteed highlight every night he played.Francesco Aquilini didn’t help by branding him the “best goalie in the world” in early 2008. General manager Mike Gillisnamed Luongo team captain before the 2008-09 season. It didn’t matter that he was never recognized as such by the National Hockey League (rules don’t allow captains in the crease). Luongo became the media magnet and an even bigger lightning rod. He didn’t need the added pressure. He was rewarded with a 12-year, $64 million contract in 2009 and placed so high on a pedestal that his fall was ever so hard.He’ll be back in September only if restricted free agent Cory Schneider gets away or if he really puts the team ahead of self-interest and takes a big pay cut.

Online gamble

Ingenuity in the 20th century was all about building a better mousetrap.

Nowadays, it’s about building a better app.

Las Vegas From Home (TSX-V:LVH) president Jake Kalpakian is confident his 13-year-old Vancouver company has done just that. LVFH’s legal, free-to-play Real Vegas Facebook casino app was launched in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs and includes a sportsbook.

Kalpakian said 2,500 accounts are opened daily, mainly on the strength of word-of-mouth.

In January, Las Vegas-based, NYSE-traded International Game Technology (NYE:IGT) acquired Seattle-based Double Down Interactive for $500 million.

DoubleDown casino on Facebook, which launched in April 2010, has 4.7 million monthly visitors. But it doesn’t offer sports betting like LVFH.

“What we’re trying to do is different products not everybody else is doing,” Kalpakian said. “What we’re looking to do, like everyone else, is sell virtual chips at some point, but that’s a very small amount of revenue. What we’re looking at is building a database and hopefully having a larger player come and buy us out.”

The stakes are high. Global Betting and Gaming Consultants estimate the industry was worth $29.3 billion in 2010, with 41% of the market related to sports.

“The technology and consumers desire change, the applications change, the business models change, the laws change,” Kalpakian said. “One year in our industry is like 15 years in a dog’s life.”

No cash changes hands on the LVFH Facebook app. It doesn’t break Canadian or American laws and neither is it a front for an illegal entity that competes with a legal, provincial monopoly, like the BC Lottery Corp.

“I’d like to see the government crack down on the grey area businesses who operate under the disguise of dot-net,” Kalpakian said. “It’s just a ridiculous game that people play dot-net, but are being pushed into a dot-com site.”

Idol speculation

Clever move by the Commonwealth Games Association of Canada to consider a Canadian Idol-style TV special to choose a Canadian bid city for the 2022 Games.

Risky, too, after the recent federal NDP leadership vote exposed the security worries for online voting.

Pending cabinet approval for conditional federal funding, three shortlisted cities would be put to a popular vote before February 2014. CEO Brian MacPhersonunveiled the plan at the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance’s Richmond convention on April 19. He conceded that the Commonwealth Games brand needs rejuvenation and that it would cost $1 billion to stage a Games, plus infrastructure costs.

Four-time host Canada’s only challenger could be South Africa. •