The legalization of online sports betting in many US states has not only been a boon for the gambling industry, but has also generated billions of dollars in local tax revenue. But the explosion in wagering has also had less positive effects, threatening the health of professional sports, experts say. The number of players breaking league rules and placing bets has increased rapidly, sometimes betting on their own team or individual performance.
The most recent incident occurred this week when the NBA permanently banned a former player. Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors An investigation revealed that he had shared information about his health with other bettors and had previously placed $54,000 in bets on basketball games.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Los Angeles Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani became the center of an MLB gambling investigation centered on the player's former interpreter. And last fall, the NHL suspended Ottawa Senator Shane Pinto for 41 games. Violate the league's gambling rules.
The Athletic reported that in 2023, 11 different professional athletes were arrested for their involvement in sports betting. Detroit Lions NFL Players Those who received suspensions for the entire season.
Since the Supreme Court in 2018, such scandals, including at the university level, have proliferated. paved the way States to legalize online sports betting. While there are steps league officials can take to alleviate the problem, experts believe there is no panacea.
Should the league ban “prop” bets?
Player proposition bets (player props) are bets on a specific player's in-game performance in a specific category, such as home runs, touchdowns, strikeouts, or shots on goal. Experts said that player props are susceptible to manipulation as the player's actions during the game can affect the outcome of the bet.
In the Porter case, an NBA investigation found that Porter provided information about his health to another party and used that information to pay Porter an $80,000 prop for underperforming against the Los Angeles Clippers in March. It turned out that he had made a bet.
“I expect some of these leagues will respond by wanting to ban players from making prop bets,” said John Holden, a business management professor at Oklahoma State University. “While this seems like a simple fix, it can make the underlying problem harder to fix.”
All major sports leagues have restrictions on players' betting, and players' unions have similar prohibitions in their contracts. Some rules prohibit players from betting on any sport, while others only prohibit players from betting on the sport they play.
But league officials are also sending mixed messages, Andrew Brandt, a sports law professor at Villanova University, told CBS MoneyWatch. On the other hand, sports leagues Signed multi-million brand marketing deals Use betting platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel. At the same time, the league has also told players that they cannot benefit financially from the sports betting trend, Brandt said.
“The message to the players is you can't bet,” he said. “But essentially the league is saying, 'Do as I say, not as I do.'”
Indeed, gambling incidents involving athletes remain relatively rare in the sports world. Pinto became the first gambling-related suspension in NHL history, and there hasn't been a scandal in MLB since Pete Rose was permanently banned from baseball in 1989.
But experts say sports fans should expect more gambling controversies as more states legalize sports betting.
“I've been kind of lucky this time around in the NBA,” Blount said. “They took a guy who wasn't very well-known. Toronto isn't even a good team. They're not going to the playoffs, so league officials took him out and said their sport is full of integrity.” All you have to do is declare it.”
