CNN
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The past few days have been unsettling for the U.S. sports and gambling communities.
Earlier this week, Mizuhara Ippei, a longtime interpreter for Japanese baseball star Ohtani Shohei, pleaded guilty in court to fraud and tax evasion charges for stealing approximately $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger to pay off gambling debts.
The hearing took place on the same day that Major League Baseball banned San Diego Padres player Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on baseball games and suspended four other players for one year for betting on games while in the minor leagues.
Meanwhile, a Brooklyn man was charged with conspiring with three others to use inside information he received from NBA players to defraud sports betting companies by betting on the performance of players who were later banned from the league, according to a federal indictment filed this week.
CNN determined that the player was former Toronto Raptors big man Jontay Porter. After an investigation, the 24-year-old was found to have violated gambling rules and was banned for life by the NBA.
“When it comes to sports, fans and consumers put up with a lot — just think about how most off-field issues that don’t affect the integrity of the game tend to fade over time,” David Carter, adjunct professor of management and organizations at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, told CNN.
“But issues affecting the fairness of the game have a chilling effect across the board and governing bodies know this is their Achilles heel,” he warned.
Experts agree that the industry has boomed since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling effectively legalized gambling (it’s now permitted in 38 states and Washington, D.C.), with nearly $120 billion expected to be pumped into legal sports betting in the U.S. by 2023, according to an analysis.
According to the American Gaming Association’s (AGA) gambling revenue tracker, Americans bet $10.49 billion on sports in February, the month of the Super Bowl, up 24.8% from the previous year.
“You can bet on any game, professional or amateur, anywhere. You can bet not just on the game itself but on individual plays within the game. You can bet on your smartphone with the push of a button,” said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College.
Zimbalist said the popularity of proposition betting, which focuses on individual parts or plays during a game, creates many opportunities for rigging the game.
“There are lots of other ways for gamblers to approach players and say, ‘Look, I don’t want your team to lose,'” he says.
“‘Just stop them from scoring in the first minute of the second half and then you can do what you want for the rest of the game.’ Players will feel a lot more protected in that situation than if they have to ruin the whole game,” he explains.
Zimbalist’s explanation illustrates the concerns some fans have about whether they can trust what they’re seeing.
“One of the things people love about sports is the uncertainty of the competition,” Zimbalist adds. “The minute you start thinking that this is really rigged or fixed or manipulated, interest in sports goes down.”
According to details released in a federal indictment about the illegal gambling scheme allegedly involving Porter, Long Phai Pham, of Brooklyn, is accused of conspiring with others who bet that Porter would underperform.
Authorities allege that Pham and others persuaded Porter, who had large gambling debts, to withdraw early from certain games to ensure that certain bets on points or other gaming activities would win. CNN has reached out to Pham’s lawyer and to a representative for Porter for comment.
“Whether in a courtroom or at the casino, every point matters: As alleged, the defendants, their co-conspirators, and NBA players participated in a brazen illegal gambling scheme that corruptly influenced two games and numerous bets,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1992 federal law that prohibited most states from allowing sports betting.
As of 2024, the gambling industry is deeply ingrained in American sports culture, with leagues, franchises, players and networks partnering with betting organizations.
Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross, said sports betting has long been practiced in the United States, but illegal schemes have come under scrutiny since legalization gave sports bookmakers the ability to study their customer base and habits.
Matheson said that before legalization, studies suggested that as little as 1% of US college basketball games might be rigged.
“What that means is that there were a lot of gambling issues before these things were legalized and we missed them. And now that they’re legalized, we’re catching them,” he added.
But illegal gambling continues.
According to Campaign for Fair Gambling (CFG), the entire U.S. online gambling market generated approximately $40.92 billion in gross illegal gambling revenue last year.
In Zimbalist’s view, the league imposes “very painful and costly” punishments that act as a deterrent, such as lifetime bans.
In Porter’s case, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he would face the “maximum punishment” of a lifetime ban in order to “protect the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and all involved in the sport.”
Other leagues with shorter suspensions are also beefing up their penalties. The NFL updated its gambling policy last year to increase the suspension for players who bet on their own teams from one year to a minimum of two years.
Asked for comment on the gambling issue, an MLB spokesman referred CNN to a statement issued Tuesday by league commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. “We have been clear that the privilege of playing baseball comes with the responsibility to refrain from certain conduct that may be legal for others,” Manfred said.
“Since the Supreme Court decision paved the way for the legalization of sports betting, we have been working with licensed sports betting operators and other third parties to ensure we are in a better position from an integrity standpoint through the transparency that a regulated sports betting system can provide.”
“MLB continues to invest heavily in integrity monitoring, education programs and awareness efforts with the goal of ensuring strict adherence to the fundamental rules of the game.”
CNN has reached out to the NFL and NBA for further comment on how they plan to protect the integrity of their leagues.
Zimbalist and Matheson note that the biggest stars in American sports are unlikely to get involved in gambling because they already earn tens of millions of dollars a year.
“The players that are actually involved are extremely low-key. They’re not the LeBron Jameses or Patrick Mahomes. They’re not the Connor McDavids of the world,” Matheson explains.
Zimbalist added that “mediocre” players or rookies who are lower paid and less established may be more likely to agree to rig the game.
“That person is more likely to feel frustrated or taken advantage of and therefore more susceptible to consequences.”
Carter also noted that government agencies are working with technology companies to more effectively crack down on illegal schemes.
“Leagues and governing bodies are doing the best they can, especially when it comes to balancing revenue generation, league policy and external relations. At times it seems a bit like the IRS: As one (sports betting) loophole or workaround is closed, another one opens up,” he added.
But as Zimbalist points out, televised sports have become so mainstream that fans can’t watch a game or read a game report without being bombarded with ads from sportsbooks.
Meanwhile, research suggests that in the United States, suicide rates among people with gambling problems are “the highest of any addiction.”
“I don’t think there are enough resources or education systems in place right now,” Zimbalist said.
“We need laws to ban sports betting advertising and prop betting. We need some kind of constraint because the problem is too big to just leave it to the market and let people become more and more dependent on gambling.”
A 2023 NCAA study surveyed 18-22 year olds and found that 58% of those who saw a sports betting ad said it made them more likely to want to gamble.
Among high-risk gamblers, nearly 80% said that the ads they saw made them more likely to gamble.
According to the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), an estimated 2.5 million adults in the United States “meet the criteria for serious gambling problems” annually.
But the growing popularity of gambling often benefits leagues financially: The NFL, for example, made more than $130 million from gambling sponsorship deals last year alone, more than 5% of the league’s total sponsorship revenue.
“Sports leagues turn to sports betting because it creates more fan enthusiasm. When people bet, more fans watch more games, follow the news more and talk more about the games,” Zimbalist said.
“Leagues enter into agreements with sportsbooks to sell the data to allow enough instant data betting on each game. The league takes a cut of the total amount wagered and charges a commission.”
“Unfortunately, the sports industry sees these developments as beneficial to their economic health, at least in the short term, as they generate more revenue. And the overwhelming driver of these leaks is economic – owners want to make money, they want to increase the value of their franchises,” he added.
CNN’s Thomas Schlachter contributed reporting.
