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 payments to an illegal bookmaker deserves all the headlines it’s garnered. That said, I find it hard to get as worked up about the “integrity of the game” argument as others who tout its importance.
This topic of discussion lost credibility in my eyes the minute sports leagues and team owners became associated with legalized gambling. Did they really think they could open the henhouse door without expecting the fox to eat? They knew that these types of cases were not only possible but probable. Yet their quest for the next dollar has led them to transform what were previously clear, solid lines into a series of gray hyphens. They have expanded the opportunities for wrongdoing because their worship of the almighty dollar is greater than their sincere desire to protect the integrity of the game.
Ohtani isn’t the only person to find himself caught in the game’s web of suspicion in recent weeks. Earlier this month, an investigation involving the Temple men’s basketball team was launched after a gambling watchdog organization cited the program for “suspicious betting activity” during a loss 100-72 against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. And ESPN reported earlier this week that Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter – who missed the last three games for what the team described as “personal reasons” – was under investigation “at following several cases of betting irregularities in recent months.
GO FURTHER
What is Shohei Ohtani’s legal exposure as his former performer is under investigation over gambling?
Sports leagues and owners have no one to blame but themselves. They’ll tell you their embrace of legalized gaming is a response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, creating a clear path for U.S. states and territories to to participate in legalized sports betting outside of Nevada. But their message loses credibility when juxtaposed with their decision to partner and profit from relationships with casinos and betting sites.
They can institute as many policies and protections as they want – and they do so 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 partner with these entities. There is a “do as I say, not as I do” aspect that further opens the door to potential misconduct by players and those around them.
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If the integrity of the game was truly paramount, gambling and any association with it would be prohibited. Period. There would be no solution allowing players to bet on any sport other than their own. Don’t you like it? Find another field of work. But instead of building virtual barriers to protect the game, sports leagues continue to open their doors and their arms.
For example, last year, NFL owners voted to allow physical sports betting to operate in their stadiums. If that’s not a mixed message, I’m not sure what is. Likewise, the NBA announced plans this month to offer live prop betting on NBA League Pass broadcasts. It should be accompanied by “For the Love of Money” by the O’Jays as the theme song.
But there is a layer to this problem that goes deeper than point spreads and prop bets. It involves the impact that legalizing gambling has on our relationships with each other – and what that could mean for society as a whole.
Recently, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton said he was uncomfortable with the proliferation of sports betting discussion on his social media accounts, stating AthleticismJames Boyd’s James Boyd: “For half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I am an accessory. Two days later, Axios reported that Cleveland Cavaliers coach JB Bickerstaff received threatening text messages after disgruntled bettors obtained his phone number.
I also asked #Pacers Star Tyrese Haliburton specifically talked about speaking to a sports psychologist, and he noted in his response how sports betting has consumed much of his social media.
“For half the world, I’m just helping them make money on DraftKings or whatever. I am an accessory. pic.twitter.com/6f2a0vEuiK
–James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) March 20, 2024
NFL players have complained for years that fantasy football participants view them as commodities, highlighting how such individuals are quick to berate them on social media for poor performance while consistently being less concerned about their physical and mental health as well as their availability for matches. If this is how people act when their only financial investment is an initial entry fee, imagine the increase in anger and intensity when someone loses week to week, or even minute to minute with game accessories.
Without being hyperbolic, can we honestly rule out the worst case scenario of someone seeking revenge on a player or coach after losing money they had no business betting on? Is it really so unlikely that in today’s society, where divisions between people run deep and some try to normalize extreme behavior, the unthinkable could become reality?
You don’t have to spend days on social media to realize that there is a heightened sense of anger across the country. Minor issues often spark maximum outrage. This volatility has always been present among players, but it tends to stay in the background. But that has changed with the confluence of legal betting and social media. Feelings and attitudes are visible on your face. They are more intense. It seems to be a question of when, not if, something bad will happen.
The impact of sports betting on society is of great concern to Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who this month announced plans to introduce legislation that would significantly limit how sports betting companies can market and interact with customers. He recently described the current landscape as “a Wild West, largely unregulated environment” and said it has been that way since the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling.
“We are facing a massive and growing public health crisis involving a known and addictive product,” said Tonko, who was joined by members of the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University. “Just like the tobacco industry, when it was determined that this industry posed a public health problem, we have now replaced Joe Camel with celebrity spokespeople.”
And yet, there seems to be no turning back because of the money involved. The infusion of money from legal betting has become an anticipated source of revenue not only for leagues and media companies, including Athleticism, 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 is fair to argue that sports leagues, teams, and owners should not be responsible for an individual’s behavior, but it is also reasonable to point out the potential unintended consequences of trying to get the most out of each source of income. Hopefully this doesn’t 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)