The Corruption Surrounding Sports Betting

How does sport betting affect Middlesex in light of the recent NBA illegal gambling scandal?

Fixing games and illegal sports betting have plagued this country throughout its history, dating back to the Black Sox Scandal, which involved rigging the 1919 World Series. Following a brief ban on sports betting from 1993 to 2018, its return has been the cause of much turmoil and scandal, as athletes and bettors now navigate the new legal landscape.

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a major investigation into the NBA related to sports betting. Many players have been charged or arrested for crimes including money laundering, illegal sports betting, and rigged poker games.

Notably, NBA Guard Terry Rozier was recently arrested on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud. The FBI believes that he passed on inside information about the teams and players to a betting ring, allowing them to make advantageous wagers. Even more egregiously, the FBI believes that he faked an injury in a game in March 2023 to underperform his predicted statistics, an attempt to protect people's bets.

Additionally, former NBA player Damon Jones was charged with providing inside information to gamblers and funneling people to illegal mob poker games. In one instant, he revealed that LeBron was not going to play in a game against Milwaukee due to injury before the public announcement. He is also believed to have funneled wealthy individuals to rigged poker games run by organized crime groups through the use of his status as a former NBA player.

Moreover, Chauncey Billups, the head coach at the Portland Trail Blazers, was recently placed on leave after being accused of helping funnel people to mafia-run poker games by the FBI. Over 30 people have been charged in this illegal betting conspiracy so far. The FBI continues to investigate these charges.

A little over a year ago, the rising star Major League Baseball Shohei Ohtani was wrapped in a scandal where his translator Ippei Mizuhura supposedly stole over 16 million dollars and used it to make and pay off gambling and other debts. Mizuhura was sentenced to over 4 years in jail as a result. While Ohtani was officially cleared of all wrongdoing, such exoneration of one of the league’s best player is convenient, and one must wonder if there was a cover-up surrounding this whole situation.

Has sports betting come to Middlesex? The answer is unclear, but the ease of online sportsbooks is making it increasingly easier for younger people to get attached to sports betting. It is seen as a way to put one's money where one's mouth is and predict games and stats.

Sports betting has become a source of debate here in Middlesex and America as a whole. Sport betting is not inherently bad and has many positive benefits, but the question is whether our society and athletes themself have the morality to preserve the beauty, competitiveness, and sportsmanship surrounding the game in the face of the temptation which sport betting offers. The solution to the temptation surrounding sports betting is stricter regulation on leagues and sports betting to preserve the honesty of the game. However, if more scandals continue to appear, sport betting might be rebranded in order to preserve the honesty of sport and competition, which supersede all benefits surrounding betting.

Timmy Hale ‘27

image by: NBC News