Why is Shohei Ohtani's story so concerning for baseball and sports?

CNN
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I can't remember a recent baseball story that has captured the public's imagination as much as this one involving Los Angeles Dodgers phenom Shohei Ohtani, his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, and gambling.

I won't list all the facts here, but there's a lot of interesting things about this story, including what role Ohtani might play in the story other than being exploited. He denies any involvement or knowledge of gambling, saying: Money was stolen. No official has accused him of anything untoward.

But the episode has already generated less-than-ideal headlines, with an ongoing federal criminal investigation and Major League Baseball's own investigation. So we need to know more quickly why the former interpreter was able to access Ohtani's bank account and allegedly be able to send money. $4.5 million to pay the bookies.

Beyond whether there is more to this story than the facts currently suggest, I am talking about something that has long concerned me: the relationship between athletes and gambling. This is especially true of baseball and its dark history with gambling.

Baseball is no longer what it once was in public. World Series ratings have fallen significantly since their peak, with only about 10% of Americans saying the World Series is their favorite sport to watch.

That's part of why this recent story concerns me as a fan of the game.

Otani transcends the boundaries of sports and is the type of player who, more than anyone else, will counteract the declining trend of baseball's national appeal. He is baseball's biggest star. He has more of his Instagram followers (about 8 million in total) than any other player. In fact, it falls short of his former teammate Mike Trout's salary of just over 2 million yen.

Looking at the general public, Ohtani is the most popular player in America. His QHis score, a measure of his appeal among the broad public, is higher than any other famous active player.

Among baseball fans, the pattern is similar. Those who know the two-time American League MVP are more likely to say he is one of their favorite players than anyone else.

Now his name is associated with something very negative, especially in this sport, even if the superstar himself had nothing to do with it. Baseball doesn't need that.

That said, assuming Ohtani did nothing wrong, America's pastime will come out of this situation largely unscathed.

However, that won't be the case for some sports leagues in the future (just kidding). When it comes to gambling, the stage is set for players and managers to end up doing something very wrong and illegal.

Sports betting has exploded in popularity in the United States, whether or not everyone understands it. It is now legal in 38 states, compared to only one state (Nevada) in 2017. The Supreme Court's 2018 ruling provided the impetus for other states to jump into gambling and do just that.

Americans gambled a record $119.84 billion on sports in 2023, according to the American Gaming Association's Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker. In 2017, only $4.8 billion in legal sports bets were placed at Nevada sportsbooks, an increase of 2,397% in his six years.

Some players and coaches are already in trouble.

We've already seen many NFL players do that. In addition to betting on sports in general, some people have been suspended for betting on NFL games.

Former University of Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired and sentenced to a 15-year industrial action order for encouraging an acquaintance to play baseball. The university that hired him at the time required him to be suspended for the first five years. Place bets with insider information on April 2023 Alabama baseball games. Bohannon was making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. CNN has reached out to Bohannon for comment, but he did not respond.

Just this week, we learned that the NBA is “investigating” an unusual online bet involving Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter. In one game, bettors who hit the under on Porter's 3-point shot made a ton of money. Porter left the game early and has been inactive since then for what the team called “personal reasons.” Although Porter didn't make that much money by NBA standards, he still managed to earn over $2 million in his short career thus far. Neither the team nor Porter have commented.

Overseas, soccer player Sandro Tonali was suspended for 10 months by the Italian Football Federation in October for violating gambling regulations, and was later charged with 50 violations of gambling regulations by the English Football Association. Newcastle United players earn millions of dollars a year from their current team. CNN has reached out to Tonali's representatives for comment.

The reason I bring up the salary thing is, from talking to some people I know, there's this illusion that major league players and managers already make so much money that no one will bet on their games. Because I think so.

However, gambling is an addiction where money can be lost quickly. How else can you explain golfer Phil Mickelson's experience with gambling in his life, which he admits has cost him nearly nine figures?

The baseball world should be well aware of the risks of betting. Pete Rose made millions in today's money during his playing days and still threw it all away on baseball betting, but the former Cincinnati Reds star claims he only bet on his team winning.

Baseball itself was nearly destroyed nearly a century ago due to the Black Sox scandal, which implicated eight Chicago White Sox players who were accused of colluding with gamblers to intentionally lose the World Series. At their 1921 trial, they were acquitted, but all of them, including Hall of Fame candidates like Shoeless Joe Jackson, were banned for life.

Rose and Jackson, like Ohtani, were big-time talents and players. Rose remains the all-time leader in hits with 4,256. We still don't know exactly what happened to Otani and his translator. Hopefully the story is as he says it is and he was the victim of theft and abuse of trust.

Rose's story should concern everyone. He was betting on the sports he knew best. In the future, it is no longer in the realm of possibility that someone could become so addicted to losing in other sports that they would bet on their own matches.

Sports leagues should know this. Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton spoken His aversion to sports gambling. Cleveland Cavaliers head coach JB Bickerstaff says sports betting in the NBA is “crossing the line” and claims he has received threats from gamblers. NCAA President Charlie Baker wants to ban prop bets (that is, bets on in-game events that are not directly related to the outcome of the game).

Most of the time it didn't matter. Major sports have embraced gambling because of the revenue it generates. I don't know if anyone can blame them.

To get an idea of ​​how much money the league spends, consider the NFL. They earned more than $130 million last year alone from gambling sponsorship deals. This represents more than 5% of the league's total sponsorship revenue.

The state government is pouring money into it as well. It is expected to generate more than $2 billion in tax revenue annually, according to the American Gaming Association and the U.S. Census Bureau. No one wants to pay taxes, so the government collects them as much as possible.

And unsurprisingly, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told MLB Network on Thursday that “sports betting is going to happen in the United States, whether or not it's affiliated with a particular company.” The fact of the matter is that the Supreme Court's decision made it clear that it's going to happen, and there's nothing we can do about it. ”

The question is, at what cost does this voluntary or involuntary relationship come about? I know many people who enjoy gambling because of their enjoyment of gaming. I, and many people around the world, have no problem with that.

What worries me is that sports appeal to us because we assume it's on a level. Yes, it is advantageous for one team to win, but we don't know if that team will win for sure. That's why March Madness is so exciting. David can defeat Goliath. Miracles exist.

When you lose the belief that anything can happen, nothing good will happen. And if that were to happen to a beloved figure like Ohtani, it could be a disaster not only for baseball but for sports around the world.