Investigations into Betting Activity Concerning Individual Performances Revealed
It was recently reported that NBA player Terry Rozier is the focus of an investigation into unusual betting activity stemming from a game in 2023. Rozier, then with the Charlotte Hornets, played roughly the first nine and a half minutes of the game before he was substituted out and then failed to return to the game due to a reported foot injury that then effectively ended his season with eight games left in the Hornets season. In the game at issue, Rozier finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in the opening quarter, at or below his pregame totals for that night’s entire game which were generally set around 21.5 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists for “prop bets” by some sportsbooks in which gamblers can bet on an individual players performance in games. “In March 2023, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity related to Terry Rozier’s performance in a game between Charlotte and New Orleans,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement, first released to The Wall Street Journal and then to other outlets. “The league conducted an investigation and did not find a violation of NBA rules. We are now aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York related to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation” even though Rozier was previously investigated by the NBA itself in which he was cooperative and cleared of any wrongdoing in that investigation.
Increased Scrutiny into Gambling from Federal Government
At the end of last year, the US Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings concerning sports gambling as its popularity has risen since its legalization in a plethora of states. Senator Marsha Blackburn noted at the hearing that there are reports of increases in illegal sports gambling rings run by transnational criminal organizations exploiting the popularity of sports gambling, citing studies that showed up to 10% of organized crime revenue is derived from these rings. Concerns over the integrity of sports remained an issue at the hearing given the amount of money at stake, as well as possible growing gambling addiction issues, with Senator Dick Durbin voicing concerns that “2.5 MILLION adults may have a severe gambling problem, and legalized sports betting puts them at risk” in urging federal action to oversee the growing industry. At an earlier investigation by the same federal probe investigating the Rozier game, it was revealed that Jontay Porter, then playing for the Toronto Raptors, had shared information with a syndicate about his own health status and plan to leave an NBA game, citing injury, which led to someone placing an $80,000 parlay to win $1.1 million before that bet was frozen. Porter received a lifetime ban and is facing sentencing after his arrest in relation to the investigation. In another instance that gained headlines, MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani’s personal translator, Ippei Mizuhara, pled guilty to embezzling over $16 million from the baseball star to attempt to cover his growing gambling debt that had reached over $40.2 million according to the criminal complaint in his federal case. These cases, along with reports of other investigations into professional sports leagues and the NCAA which controls college athletics, may be a harbinger of things to come in the sports world.