NewsNation
Xavier Walton
(NewsNation) — Nearly six years after a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for legal sports betting in the U.S., leagues are seeing a spike in sports betting scandals that are raising questions about the integrity of the game.
Thursday marked opening day for Major League Baseball, with several teams kicking off the season. One of the MLB’s biggest stars, Shohei Otani, is involved in a major gambling investigation after he said his translator stole millions of dollars from him.
The playoffs are about to begin in NBA, and the league has reportedly received complaints from players and head coaches about betting’s growing influence. Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter is currently being investigated for suspicious betting activity.
In the National Football League, at least 10 players were suspended for their alleged betting habits.
This begs the question: Is the integrity of sports in jeopardy?
“Maintaining the integrity of the game is paramount to the professional and collegiate leagues out there,” said John Holden, a professor at Oklahoma State University. “The reality is bad things happen when sports and gambling mix. That’s a historical fact.”
It’s not just professional sports, either — college sports are also under the microscope.
Wagers on individual achievements within a game, known as prop bets, are growing in popularity with fans who want more action than just the money line, point spread and game total bets.
But individual props are also a big danger to the integrity of the game, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It wants states that have legalized betting to ban prop bets on college games.
NCAA President Charlie Baker called for a national ban on bets on the performance of individual college athletes. It came after a men’s basketball team was flagged by a prominent gambling watchdog for suspicious wagering activity on its games.
All of this comes in the middle of one of the largest sports betting events in the country: March Madness, where men’s and women’s college basketball teams compete for the NCAA’s Division I national championship.
Many sports enthusiasts say the Supreme Court opened Pandora’s box when it made way for states to legalize sports betting back in 2018.
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