The legalization of online sports betting in many U.S. states has proved a boon for the gambling industry, as well as generated billions in local tax revenue. But the explosive growth in wagering has also had a less savory effect that experts say threatens the integrity of professional sports: a surge in players breaking league rules and placing bets, sometimes on their own teams and personal performance.
The most recent incident happened this week when the NBA permanently banned former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter after an investigation found that he shared information about his health status with other bettors and that he had previously bet $54,000 on basketball games.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani became the center of a MLB gambling probe centering on the player's former interpreter. And the NHL last fall suspended Ottawa Senator Shane Pinto for 41 games for violating the league's gambling rules.
In 2023, 11 different pro athletes were caught engaging in sports gambling, the Athletic has reported, including NFL players from the Detroit Lions who were suspended for an entire season.
Such scandals, including at the collegiate level, have proliferated since the Supreme Court in 2018 cleared the way for states to legalize online sports betting. And while there are steps league officials can take to mitigate the issue, experts see no panaceas.
Should leagues ban "prop" bets?
A player proposition bet — or player props — is a wager on a given player's in-game performance in a particular category, like home runs, touchdowns, strikeouts or shots on goal. Experts said player props are susceptible to being manipulated because a player's actions in a game can dictate the outcome of bet.
In the Porter case, the NBA investigation found that he had provided information about his health to another part, who used that knowledge to place an $80,000 prop wager that Porter would underperform in a March game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
"I do expect some of these leagues to react by wanting to ban player prop bets," said John Holden, a business management professor at Oklahoma State University. "And that looks like an easy fix, but it might make it harder to fix the underlying problem."
The major sports leagues all have restrictions on athletes placing bets, and similar bans are also written into players' union contracts. Some rules bar players from wagering on any sport, while others only ban someone from betting on the sports they play.
However, there is also a conflicting message being sent by league officials, according to Andrew Brandt, a sports law professor at Villanova University. While sports leagues have established lucrative brand marketing partnerships with betting platforms like DraftKings and FanDuel, they are also prohibiting players from profiting from the sports betting trend, Brandt explained.
"The message to players is you cannot bet," he said. "But essentially the leagues are saying 'Do as I say, not as I do'."
Although gambling incidents involving athletes are relatively uncommon in the sports industry, Pinto's suspension marks the NHL's first gambling-related disciplinary action, and MLB has remained free of scandal since Pete Rose's lifetime ban in 1989.
Experts anticipate more gambling controversies in the world of sports as additional states legalize sports betting.
"The NBA was somewhat fortunate this time," Brandt noted. "They were dealing with a lesser-known player. Toronto isn't a strong team — they won't make it to the playoffs, so league officials can simply remove him and uphold the integrity of their sport."
