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When the name of a sport’s biggest superstar surfaces in a gambling scandal, it’s obviously news. So, yes, the question of whether Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani authorized $4.5 million in payouts to an illegal bookmaker deserves every headline it has garnered. That said, I’m having a hard time getting as worked up about the “integrity of the game” argument as others who are spouting its importance.
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That particular talking point lost credibility with me the minute sports leagues and team owners partnered with legalized gambling. Did they really think they could open the door to the henhouse and not expect the fox to eat? They knew these types of instances were not only possible but likely. Still, their chase for the next dollar caused them to turn what had been solid bright lines into a series of gray hyphens. They widened the openings for wrongdoing because their worship of the almighty dollar is greater than their sincere desire to protect the integrity of the game.
Ohtani is not the only person to find himself caught in gambling’s web of suspicion in recent weeks. Earlier this month, an inquiry involving the Temple men’s basketball team was opened after a gambling watchdog organization cited the program for “suspicious betting activity” in a 100-72 loss to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. And ESPN reported earlier this week that Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter — who has missed the last three games for what the team describes as “personal reasons” — is under investigation “following multiple instances of betting irregularities over the past several months.”
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What is Shohei Ohtani’s legal exposure as former interpreter faces gambling probe?
Sports leagues and owners have no one to blame but themselves. They will tell you their embrace of legalized gambling is a response to the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, thus creating an unobstructed pathway for states and U.S. territories to participate in legalized sports betting outside of Nevada. But their message loses credibility when juxtaposed with their decision to partner with and profit from relationships with casinos and wagering sites.
They can institute as many policies and protections as they’d like — and they have through prominent locker room signage and mandatory discussions with players — but it’s hard for some to take them seriously when, at the same time, owners and leagues are partnering with these entities. There is a “Do as I say, not as I do” aspect to it that further cracks the door to potential misconduct by players and those around them.
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If the integrity of the game were truly paramount, gambling and any association with it would be banned. Period. There would not be workarounds that permit players to bet on any sport but their own. Don’t like it? Find another line of work. But instead of constructing virtual barriers to protect the game, sports leagues continue to open their doors and arms.
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For instance, last year the NFL owners voted to allow physical sportsbooks to operate in their stadiums. If that’s not a mixed message, I’m not sure what is. Ditto the NBA announcing this month that it plans to feature live prop betting on NBA League Pass telecasts. It should come with the O’Jays’ “For the Love of Money” as a theme song.
But there’s a layer to this issue that runs deeper than point spreads and prop bets. It involves the impact that legalized gambling is having on how we relate to one another — and what that could mean for society at large.
Recently, Indiana Pacers standout Tyrese Haliburton said he was uncomfortable with the proliferation of sports-betting talk on his social media accounts, telling The Athletic’s James Boyd, “To half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I’m a prop.” Two days later, Axios reported that Cleveland Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff received threatening text messages after disgruntled bettors acquired his phone number.
I also asked #Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton specifically about speaking to a sports psychologist, and he noted in his response how sports betting has consumed a lot of his social media.
“To half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I’m a prop.“ pic.twitter.com/6f2a0vEuiK
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) March 20, 2024
NFL players have complained for years about fantasy football participants viewing them as commodities, pointing out how these individuals are quick to berate them on social media for subpar performances while consistently showing less concern for their physical and mental health than their availability for games. If this is how people act when their only financial investment is an upfront entry fee, imagine the increase in anger and intensity when someone is losing week to week, if not minute to minute with in-game props.
Without being hyperbolic, can we honestly rule out a worst-case scenario where someone seeks retribution against a player or coach after losing money he or she had no business wagering? Is it really so far-fetched that in today’s society, where divisions run deep among people and some are attempting to normalize extreme behavior, the unthinkable could become reality?
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You don’t have to spend days on social media to realize there’s a heightened sense of anger across the country. Minor issues frequently produce maximum outrage. That volatility has always been present among gamblers, but it tended to be in the background. But that has changed with the confluence of legal wagering and social media. Feelings and attitudes are in your face. They’re more intense. It seems like it’s a matter of when, not if, something bad is going to happen.
Sports gambling’s impact on society greatly concerns Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who this month announced plans to introduce legislation that would significantly limit the way sports betting companies can market to and interact with customers. He recently described the current landscape as being “a Wild West, largely unregulated environment” and said it has been that way since the Supreme Court ruling in 2018.
“We are dealing with a massive and growing public health crisis involving a known, addictive product,” said Tonko, who was accompanied by members of Northeastern University’s Public Health Advocacy Institute. “Just as in the tobacco industry when it was determined that that industry was posing a public health situation, we have now displaced Joe Camel with celebrity spokespeople.”
And yet, there appears to be no turning back because of the money involved. The cash infusion from legal wagering has become an anticipated revenue stream for not only leagues and media companies — including The Athletic, which in 2021 made BetMGM its exclusive sports betting partner — but also cities and states. The Middlesboro (Ky.) News reported in October 2022 that more than $70 billion in tax revenue from legal gaming went to state and local governments, with the industry employing more than 1 million people.
It’s fair to argue that sports leagues, teams and owners should not be responsible for an individual’s behavior, but it’s also reasonable to point out potential unintended consequences of attempting to squeeze every penny from every revenue stream. Hopefully that does not result in a worst-case scenario, but no one should be surprised if it does.
(Photo of a mural depicting Shohei Ohtani, created by artist Robert Vargas on the Miyako Hotel in Los Angeles: Mario Tama / Getty Images)