Sports and scandals are common bedfellows. Few sports have been immune from cheating, the behavior of athletes on and off the screen is regularly in the news, and some of the most controversial moments in sports history have left lasting impressions on players and fans alike.
Another aspect of controversy related to sport is gambling. Some of the biggest names in sports have been linked to gambling in one way or another. Many pre-date the era of online betting, but the internet has certainly added names to the roster. With the proliferation of online betting, making a wager or two on the big game is easier than ever. And, sometimes, even athletes can't resist.
The biggest athlete scandals are full of unexpected turns. When it comes to gambling scandals involving athletes, the people, the places, the outlandish behavior, and the amount of money involved may seem like nothing more than an elaborate bluff. The stories about gambling in sports here definitely go all-in on the drama and intrigue. The only question is, which one is the wildest ride?
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Jontay Porter Was Banned By The NBA For Violating Numerous League Gambling Regulations
When: 2024
The Controversy: Jontay Porter played college basketball at the University of Missouri before signing with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020. After two seasons with the Grizzlies, Porter played for the Wisconsin Herd and the Motor City Cruise, two teams in the NBA G League, the minor league organization for professional basketball. In December 2023, Porter signed with the Toronto Raptors.
A few months after joining the Raptors, the NBA announced Porter was under investigation for potential involvement in gambling irregularities. In January 2024, the online betting website DraftKings Sportsbook noted an increased number of proposition bets against Porter's performance. The trend continued in March, and in April 2024, Colorado gambling regulators told gambling businesses to report any bets placed by Porter on “NBA affiliated games.”
The Outcome: On April 17, 2024, the NBA announced that Porter was banned from the league for:
Disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games.
Porter had tipped off a known gambler about his health, setting the stage for prop bets about his performance in a game against the Sacramento Kings on March 20, 2024. Porter had also made bets of his own, although not on games in which he played.
Even after banning Porter, the NBA kept the investigation into his actions open. According to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Porter's actions had much bigger implications for gambling and professional sports:
There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment. While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players.
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2Basketball Star Jack Molinas Spent Five Years In Prison For Gambling And Brought Down Other Athletes In The Process
When: 1961
The Controversy: He excelled on the basketball court at Columbia University during the early 1950s and, in 1953, was drafted to the NBA by the Pistons (located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at that time). Despite being selected to play in the 1954 NBA All-Star Game, he didn't participate due to a ban for betting on Pistons games. He then left the NBA and joined the Eastern Professional Basketball League (EPBL). Molinas was both a player and coach in the EPBL before being implicated in a major gambling ring.
In 1961, Molinas's involvement in a point-shaving scandal was revealed. Molinas was the man behind a gambling operation that reached 27 colleges nationwide and included nearly 50 players. One of the players was Connie Hawkins, who met Molinas in 1960, and, as a member of the University of Iowa team, reportedly took “favors” from his friend. This included $250 that Hawkins said was a loan and had nothing to do with gambling. Unfortunately, his connection to Molinas necessarily tainted the player.
No stranger to gambling or point-shaving, Molinas also had ties to bookmaker Joe Hacken and Vincent Gigante, a member of the Genovese crime family.
The Outcome: Molinas went to prison for the point-shaving scandal in 1963. Judge Joseph Sarafite told Molinas at his trial:
In my opinion, you are a completely immoral person. You are the prime mover of the conspiracy and you were the person most responsible. You callously used your prestige as a former all‐American basketball player to corrupt college basketball players and defraud the public.
After serving five years, Molinas was paroled. He later moved to Los Angeles where he was arrested for illegal distribution of adult material and furs in 1973. Molinas was shot and killed by a sniper in August 1975. Just months earlier, his business partner had been beaten to death and, as a result, there was speculation that their deaths were mob related.
Hawkins never appeared on the basketball court for the University of Iowa and was banned by the NBA. He then played for the Harlem Globetrotters and in the American Basketball Association before he was allowed to join the NBA in 1969. Hawkins said of Molinas:
I just thought Jack was a nice guy… He'd buy us food, drive us home from the beach, lend us his car. One time he told me he knew how difficult it was for poor kids in their first year at school, and if I needed help or money, just let him know. He said he liked me.
Wild story?When: 1980s
The Controversy: As a standout quarterback for the Ohio State University Buckeyes between 1978 and 1981, Art Schlichter looked poised for greatness in the NFL. He was drafted to the Baltimore Colts in 1982 and the following year was suspended for gambling.
Schlichter had been gambling since college (if not earlier) and was in debt by the time he joined the Colts. After his bookies threatened to tell the NFL about his debts, Schlichter agreed to work with the FBI to bring them to justice. Schlichter's suspension was supposed to be indefinite but after he agreed to seek treatment, the league let him play after 13 months out.
Schlichter's return to the NFL in June 1984 was short-lived. He was cut by the Colts for suspicion of gambling. In 1986, he was briefly picked up by the Buffalo Bills, arrested for gambling again in 1987, and tried to sign a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals that same year. At that point, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle refused to reinstate Schlichter.
The Outcome: Schlichter never played in the NFL again. He did play in the Canadian Football League and in the Arena Football League intermittently.
His gambling never completely ceased and he found himself in trouble with the law for theft, forgery, fraud, money laundering, gambling, and substance abuse through the early 2020s. As of March 2024, Schlichter was again facing drug-related charges.
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- US Department of Justice
- Wikimedia Commons
- Public domain
4When: 2007
The Controversy: Admittedly, NBA referee Tim Donaghy wasn't a professional athlete, but his gambling and subsequent claims about the NBA changed professional basketball forever.
Veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to gambling charges in 2007 on the heels of investigations by the league and the FBI. Donaghy's wagers included ones made on games he officiated and, according to him, he gave information about games to other gamblers.
Donaghy had been gambling for four years but was not paid for confidential information until December 2006. Donaghy was accused of fixing games when his wagering was revealed, but the NBA did not find sufficient evidence to indicate this was the case.
Donaghy complicated matters in 2008 when he claimed the NBA conspired with referees to manipulate the outcome of playoff games. NBA Commissioner David Stern called Donaghy's assertions “an attempt to demonstrate that he is not the only one who engaged in criminal activity” and said such statements were “baseless.”
The Outcome: Donaghy was sentenced to 15 months for charges related to gambling (he faced twice that) because he cooperated with authorities. He was released after 11 months and then went to a halfway house. He was later arrested for violating rules at the latter.
The NBA clarified gambling rules for referees in the wake of Donaghy's action, but they actually loosened overall restrictions. Because Stern viewed the complete gambling ban to be “too harsh and was not particularly well-enforced over the years,” new guidelines allowed referees to bet on things other than sports. The NBA's Sports Betting Integrity Unit added to its personnel and resources to more closely monitor referees with training, questionnaires, and by assessing gambling data from authorized sports betting entities.
Donaghy, for his part, later became a referee for professional wrestling. He used his background as a gimmick and took on the role of a “crooked referee.”
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When: 2006
The Controversy: Dubbed “Operation Slap Shot,” the efforts by New Jersey authorities to root out a widespread NHL gambling ring in 2006 turned up some unexpected names. Among the individuals connected to the scandal were Janet (Jones) Gretzky, actress and wife of NHL great Wayne Gretzky, and their friend, NHL coach Rick Tocchet.
According to a press release from the New Jersey State Police, “Operation Slap Shot” led to the arrest of a New Jersey State Trooper and two other people involved in sports bookmaking, including Tocchet. For his part, Tocchet was charged with “promoting gambling, money laundering, [and] conspiracy.”
The Outcome: Numerous professional hockey players were tied to the sports betting operation, as was Jones. Gretzky went on record that his wife never bet on his behalf. He also said about Tocchet:
It's hard because I love the guy. He's a great guy, you know. I just hope it all works out for him.
His wife denied any involvement and never faced charges. In 2007, Tocchet pleaded guilty to promoting gambling and conspiracy. He was sentenced to two years probation for his crimes. Tocchet's coaching career did not suffer and he went on to work for the Arizona Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks.
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When: 1963
The Controversy: Green Bay Packers player Paul Hornung and Alex Karras from the Detroit Lions were both suspended from the NFL in April 1963 for betting on football and being linked to “known hoodlums.”
Hornung, known as “Golden Boy,” and Karras were two players with high profiles on and off the field. The former reportedly wagered hundreds of dollars on football - including placing bets on their own teams.
Paul Rozelle, NFL commissioner at the time, sought to root out gambling in football and discovered both men broke league rules related to it. He said that both Hornung and Karras:
had been informed over and over of the league rule on gambling. The rule is posted in every clubhouse in the league as well… I could only exact from them the most severe penalty short of banishment for life.
The Outcome: Neither Hornung nor Karras were banned for life but they did each sit out one year. Hornung was contrite about his gambling, admitting, “Rozelle was right, and I was in the wrong. When I broke the rule, he did what he had to do.”
Karras, however, was furious when the ban came down. He never apologized but made his opinion known at the start of a game in 1964. When asked to call heads or tales at the coin toss, Karras replied, “I'm sorry sir, but I'm not permitted to gamble.”
Five additional players were fined for gambling in 1963 and the Lions were fined for not taking action when alerted to illegal activities by authorities.
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