Gambling "syndicate" apparently targeted college basketball
Legalized, normalized, and heavily monetized gambling is creating all sorts of irregularities, and it’s just a matter of time before the NFL is dealing with a gambling scandal of its own.
That was the impetus for Big Shield, a fictional look at how gambling interests could infiltrate a completely fictional pro football league that definitely is not the NFL.
Every month or so, another story emerges regarding the problematic overlap between gambling and sports. On Friday, David Purdum of ESPN.com posted an item regarding a suspected gambling “syndicate” that apparently targeted college basketball.
Per the report, documents obtained by ESPN via a public records request include details regarding “the behavior of an alleged gambling syndicate” and college basketball games played between December 1, 2024, and the middle of January 2025.
The documents show that at least nine sportsbooks in 13 different states and one Canadian province spotted unusual betting activity. The information was contained in an email sent by IC360, which scours betting trends for gambling abnormalities. Per the email, gamblers were wagering large amounts against the same teams, and consistently winning.
One sportsbook flagged Marves Fairley, a Mississippian who sells betting picks, as “the main syndicate suspect.” Fairley denied any involvement to ESPN.com.
The information overlaps with five of six programs involving 13 players the NCAA is currently investigating for participation in gambling schemes: Eastern Michigan, Temple, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley State.
The full, lengthy report is worth a read. It illustrates how new and previously dormant betting accounts are spotted suddenly making big bets on the targeted games.
“Although the underlying suspicious activity is, of course, concerning, we are proud to be a part of a group of invested stakeholders diligently collaborating to combat bad actors in sport,” an IC360 spokesperson told ESPN.com. “We’re optimistic these efforts will yield positive results as we approach college basketball season.”
The question is whether situations like this are an aberration or merely the tip of the iceberg. Spotting such abnormalities isn’t the same thing as catching all of them. The mere fact that there are any underscores the simple fact that, with thousands of college and pro athletes and thousands of gamblers looking to tip the scales in their favor, it’s a potential Whac-A-Mole endeavor for those who hope to ensure that the sportsbooks will keep doing what they’re designed to do — collect and keep as much money as possible from those who bet.
The temptation for gamblers to get an edge will always exist. The temptation for players to pick up a little extra money will, too.
From the NFL’s perspective, the question is whether the league has simply gotten lucky. Or whether it’s done a good job to date of keeping the sheet from hitting the fan.
Regardless, it seems inevitable that there will be an NFL-related gambling controversy. Whether it relates to an attempt to rig a game or to engineer player prop bets or to some other potential irregularity remains to be seen. And the reaction — legislative, prosecutorial, and/or regulatory — will be the most interesting aspect if/when the biggest sport in the country experiences a problem that has from time to time plagued Major League Baseball, the NBA, and college basketball.
https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/gambling-syndicate-apparently-targeted-college-basketball