The recent suspension of a player once again showed how hypocritical the attitude of the NBA, the American basketball league, is towards sports betting.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our league. Then a blatant violation of our gambling rules is a mortal sin. That’s why he gets the harshest possible punishment, and we banish him.’ Adam Silver, the boss of the NBA, did not shy away from the big words about the practices of Jontay Porter, a player for the Toronto Raptors.
Research by the NBA showed that it had placed at least thirteen bets via a gambling account of a ‘known person’. Porter limited his own playing minutes to influence the outcome of one or more bets. For example, in one match, Porter played only three minutes after saying he was ‘feeling sick’. He also passed on information to a gambler, stating that he would not perform well in a certain match. He then placed an online bet of 75,000 euros. Possible profit: one million euros. It set off alarm bells at the betting office. That froze the bet and notified the NBA. Resulting in the investigation and ‘exile’.
Although the NBA didn’t use the word “life sentence” in its press release, you can bet Porter will never play in the NBA again. Very stupid of him, because every player knows that it is forbidden to gamble on NBA matches of their own team. Moreover, his gambling winnings were peanuts compared to what he can earn as a player. Yet his case is no surprise. According to analysts, he is certainly not the only player who ignores the gambling rules. Porter was just unlucky enough to get caught. NBA boss Adam Silver knows that too, but he tries to keep up appearances. At the same time, he stated in the press release that legal gambling creates transparency and helps identify suspicious, abnormal gambling activities. After all, Silver will not kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
113 billion euros
Since a ruling by the US Supreme Court in 2018, more and more US states have legalized gambling on sports events in recent years. As a result, not only have the revenues for the betting offices increased enormously – in 2023, Americans will have bet a record amount of no less than 113 billion euros on sports matches – but the sports competitions also earn hundreds of millions of euros from sponsorship deals with those companies. For example, the NBA recently added a link to the live broadcasts in its streaming service League Pass, which shows ‘real time’ betting odds. One click and NBA fans can bet money on FanDuel or DraftKings websites. It’s only a matter of time before every league in the US does the same. Striking, because until 2018 many had leagues gambling demonized. Now they encourage it themselves. Even the media has jumped on the bandwagon. Sports channel ESPN has built its own business with ESPN BET, and also The Athletic, which now covers sports for The New York Timeshas a betting partner with BetMGM.
Although the NBA has suspended Jontay Porter, there is no zero tolerance for all club employees, not even in the NFL (American football) or the MLB (baseball). The NBA is “lucky” in that Porter is a small shrimp and can deliver “the most severe punishment,” but if a big name were ever caught engaging in illegal gambling, it would be a catastrophe. At least if that is announced. In 2007, NBA minimized the scandal surrounding referee Tim Donaghy. He had bet money on matches he officiated for four seasons. Donaghy insinuated that other refs did the same, but according to the NBA he was the only sinner.
Recently, the MLB (baseball) also escaped disaster when the interpreter of superstar Shohei Ohtani was discredited. He had gambled away fourteen million euros from Ohtani’s account. After investigation it turned out that the interpreter had stolen that money. The MLB could breathe a sigh of relief. Yet it seems only a matter of time before the bomb really explodes.
