The integrity of American sports is being questioned with professional sports leagues heavily promoting sports gambling, which leads to player involvement and fan scrutiny.
Pete Rose was banned permanently from Major League Baseball in August 1989 due to betting on games that he managed.
The MLB gave Rose the harshest punishment with the hopes it would lead to the discouragement of future baseball players from betting on their games.
However, that hasn’t stopped players from trying to make a quick buck.
In 2024, five players were caught being involved in a sports betting operation and each of them were suspended.
The leader of the operation, infielder Tucupita Marcano, would be permanently banned from baseball, the first person since Rose.
This wouldn’t be an issue, however, almost every commercial break, at least once a sports gambling ad will run to millions of viewers.
While the MLB squeaks by with a low amount of violation of sports betting, the NBA has been front and center in this new era.
The NBA has three major sponsors that are sports betting sites, and these sports betting sites are pushed during commercial breaks, during pre-game shows and even during commentary where announcers will talk about players “over/under”.
The NBA has been no stranger to sports betting controversies, from Terry Rosier, Jontay Porter, to Tim Donaghy.
Jontay Porter was permanently banned from the NBA in April 2024 for being heavily involved in multiple incidents where he told people to bet on his “under” and he would purposely perform poorly in order for them to make money.
Not only was Porter banned from the NBA, but he’s being taken to court by the FBI and NBA as he’s facing federal charges.
Tim Donaghy was a referee in the NBA from 1997-2007, and he was most famous for being banned from the NBA and being investigated by the FBI for betting on games he would referee.
Donaghy stated he had placed tens of thousands of dollars on games he refereed in and he would make and ignore calls to try and influence the “point spread” of the game.
Donaghy was even allegedly approached by low-level mob associates trying to increase their gambling scene.
With every sports betting advertisement, fans become more and more uneasy about the integrity of the games.
With every bad or shaky call, people win or lose hundreds to thousands of dollars, and the sports leagues know this.
In leagues where the officials and referees are so prominent and have such a strong influence on games, some fans are slowly developing an idea of these leagues being rigged or being influenced by these billion-dollar sports betting companies looking to make the most money possible.
With the rise and success of sports gambling, every call a referee makes is going to be under scrutiny.
Every bad strike call, every travel, every goaltending call is going to be looked at by millions of fans trying to prove the referees are trying to rig the game.
The integrity of these sports leagues are what hold millions of fans’ attention and keep them watching for years.
Not being able to know the outcome of games is what makes watching sports so fun and interesting.
However if the sports leagues keep pushing sports gambling ads more and more people are going to take notice.
Even worse, certain leagues like the NFL have extremely hypocritical stances on sports gambling.
The NFL has deals with several sports betting sites and apps, including fanduel.
Meanwhile, the NFL has an extremely strict no-gambling policy, even for other sports.
Former Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Isiah Rodgers was suspended for a whole season for gambling on several sports.
Meanwhile, there are several players in the NFL that are currently dealing with cases involving domestic abuse, assault or driving charges, and they received little to no suspension for their actions.