Awkward…
Obviously sports betting has become big business in the past few years. Since 2018 when the Supreme Court found a federal ban on sports gambling was unconstitutional, 38 states (plus Washington D.C.) have legalized sports betting in some capacity, generating nearly $14 billion in revenue in 2024. Even the professional sports leagues were quick to get in on the action, partnering with sports betting sites like DraftKings, FanDuel, ESPN Bet, BetMGM, Caesars…the list goes on and on.
Of course the big business of sports betting also presents big problems for leagues and players, who could easily change the outcome of games based on gambling lines or profit on insider information. So obviously there are not only strict rules from the leagues prohibiting sports betting by athletes, but also increasing scrutiny by law enforcement for any players suspected of altering games or profiting off of inside information.
That leads us to today, with the FBI announcing two high-profile arrests in the NBA that have shaken the sports world.
This morning, it was announced that Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier had been arrested in two separate but related gambling investigations.
According to FBI Director Kash Patel and US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr., the indictment alleges that Rozier, along with five other defendants, participated in an illegal sports betting scheme using insider information.
Sportsbooks in multiple states had reportedly flagged a surge of bets on Rozier while he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans back in 2023, with 30 wagers in 46 minutes being placed on Rozier hitting the under in that game. He then exited the game after just 10 minutes, citing a foot injury.
The case is reportedly connected to Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges after admitting to manipulating his performance in two games during the 2023-24 season and was subsequently banned from the NBA. And former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Damon Jones was also charged today in the scheme for allegedly providing inside information about NBA games to sports bettors.
Billups, meanwhile, was charged in an indictment that includes 31 people allegedly involved in rigging underground poker games connected to the mafia, including the Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese and Genovese crime families. According to the indictment, Billups was used to lure gamblers into the poker games, which reportedly used technology including rigged shuffle machines, X-ray tables that could read cards face down and special contact lenses and eyeglasses that could read premarked cards to rig the games.
Absolutely wild stuff.
Well obviously the arrests have been the big sports story of the day, dominating headlines on ESPN and other sports sites. But as many online pointed out, it’s a little ironic that these sites are all sponsored by sports betting companies as they report on the arrests:
And the network’s close connection with sports betting sites made for an awkward moment during the reporting, when ESPN producers apparently noticed the disconnect between reporting on sports gambling arrests on their show Get Up with an advertisement for their own sports betting site, ESPN Bet, on the screen – and quietly removed it during the report:
Yeah, not great optics there.
Of course as sports betting becomes more and more profitable, we’re unfortunately only going to see more of these arrests of players for allegedly shaving points or providing insider information to gamblers. It’s an inevitable side effect of something that has apparently been profitable enough for the league and networks that they’re still willing to encourage.
But maybe just don’t advertise your own gambling platform while you’re reporting on the arrests.
