If steemit becomes a "gambling" website we are doomed to that particular market alone
First of all, steemports is not just gambling. Every single post is also blogging, with a writer who writes about the the game, the players, etc.
Second, I'm pretty sure that sports and gambling are bigger markets than personal blogging. I don't think being inclusive of different types of content is a bad thing nor impossible (especially with better tools for organizing and filtering), but if hypothetically we did have to choose, I'd probably choose the bigger market over the smaller one. As an investor/stakeholder, why shouldn't I?
Spot on. The gamblers will make the bloggers more valuable actually.
The key here is that this is an ecosystem that is worth more together as a network than on its own.
It's better to be game investment tool, blogging site and social network all together than each part on its own.
You invested in Steem token not Steemit token. Each company has multiple teams (which sometimes are working on the same engine), but another idea should not always be incorporated in the most well known product of a company. Youtube is still a Youtube, not a Google Video.
Of course, one product of a company can/should promote another products in a common ecosystem, but this not mean, that those two products has to be merged for ever.
As a investor you should remember about diversity. If Steemit.com will fail, I would prefer to have still SteemSports.com thriving, but if SteemSports will fail, I do not want to see Steemit taken down together with it.
They're all using the same blockchain and therefore drawing from the same pool of content. If Steemsports switches its primary interface to steemsports.com, the posts will still appear on Steemit.com. Steemit.com is a view of the blockchain, it is not a separate platform with its own content.
Steemit decided to hide content which is flagged by many people. This is just a policy. Another policy can be: hide everything with content-type: games, because there is separate interface dedicated for that
Of course, but why would you do that on a leaderboard of the highest payout posts (which is what the badly-named "Trending" represents)? Steemit.com can offer a different home page with whatever sort of filtering rules, and indeed I think the biggest problem with this platform is people can't filter and display what they want. You can't even look at one person's blog without seeing resteemed posts, nor can you look at posts with one main tag without seeing posts using the same tag as a secondary. The entire organization is terrible. But this has very little to do with Steemsports, which are not only games but also (sport-oriented) blog posts BTW, so it isn't even clear to me how that would be categorized if it were possible. Some other game posts are more clear though.
are you sure, that people actually read that stuff? IMO those posts are just a justification to take another 30% from SteemDollars/Steem (according to their rules).
Actually it isn't gambling at all. I lose nothing at all if I lose the bet. I might even still get a curation reward. It's nothing but vote buying. As for the analysis of the game - that could be rewarded for the writing without the vote buying included.
Sure you could choose the bigger market of sports fans. But this type of content encourages no participation whatsoever. It's nothing but a free bet. So you can invest in a platform that gives away free money for zero participation but in the end, that's a much harder sell than "blog for rewards". Why would bigger investors see a platform dedicated to giving away free money for zero work as a legitimate investment.
If that's what steem is going to be forever associated with, because it's the biggest most highly rewarded thing on the blockchain, then I doubt we'll ever be taken seriously.
Speak for yourself. I take steemsports seriously as generally well-written sports content that engages sports fans with a fun game (as you say, not really gambling) that offers daily prizes. A way to earn and distribute cryptocurrency (the latter being the original purpose for the site after all) that doesn't require being in the narrow group of successful content creators. To me that is all very serious, and potentially very successful.
I didn't say people wouldn't take steemsports seriously. I'm talking about a blockchain that gives away free bets for nothing.
I believe that the original purpose of the site was not just to distribute cryptocurrency, it was to be a financial insurance system - stakeholders paying to financially support projects or people who need or deserve the rewards. For people to take steem(it) seriously, in my personal opinion, there needs to be a purpose - not just profit and distribution - that doesn't make sense to people and as suggested in my reply to dantheman, it's a result, not a purpose. Free money for free bets will just never sell because it makes no sense. Earn money for blogging and creating and adding value (to the platform or otherwise) that makes sense and excites people. Free money for free bets might entice people to check out the website skeptically, but as soon as they see that it's a "steem" dollar it would be laughed at as it just can't be real. As for the current content creators, I would say that it's disincentivising competition.
As a stakeholder in the platform, I do not believe I derive any value from all this content that you claim adds value. It is an illusion, but there is no actual economic or monetary value that derives from it which would support the notion of investors' money being given to bloggers. None.
The only mechanism that supports this being viable is to distribute crytpocurrency widely and have that grow into a self sustaining economy.
Free bets are a game. If people enjoy and participate in the game, it adds value for the participants. It adds value to the economy by distributing tokens widely, seeding a market which can then be tapped by entrepreneurs offering goods and services. (There are other games on steemit that I also like -- I noticed one where you have to guess the combination of a safe.)
It makes just exactly as much, or as little, sense as paying people free money out of thin air for posting their blog, although in reality I think it makes more sense because the market is bigger and the barriers to participation by users is lower.
FWIW, the issue you raise with people not believing in 'free money' already exists. It especially exists when they try to post and earn nothing because they aren't particularly famous, or talented, confirming their view that the whole thing is a scam. Now contrast that with what happens when they pick a side on a steemsports game, and win. They actually earn a payout, into their account, which can be cashed out (and methods for doing this more easily will only improve over time).