Sports and gambling: The pitfalls of an alliance

Sports and gambling: The pitfalls of an alliance Can we believe what we see on the athletic field, or are the outcomes being manipulated? That’s the fundamental question now that illegal game-fixing schemes are being uncovered with increasing frequency — a predictable outcome given the way sports has embraced legalized gambling the last seven years in a tradeoff to make billions.

Another gambling scandal rocked the sports world last week, this time a point-shaving scheme in Division I college basketball. According to U.S. Attorney David Metcalf, it involved 17 schools, 39 players and 29 games. So far, 26 people have been charged. According to prosecutors, players were paid $10,000 to $30,000 to intentionally underperform, allowing bettors to win millions of dollars.

This comes just five months after a large-scale gambling scandal was uncovered in the NBA, leading to indictments against more than 30 people, including an NBA coach, an All-Star player and a former player.

A month earlier, the NCAA announced that three Fresno State basketball players had participated in a gambling scheme that involved their own games.

This came only weeks after Major League Baseball dealt with its own gambling scandal.

This is the price sports are paying after inviting gambling into their arenas. Pandora’s box was opened in 2018, when the Supreme Court ruled to allow states to decide whether to legalize sports gambling and 38 states did so (plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico).

Sports immediately forged partnerships with gaming companies and went into the gambling business. Since then, more than two dozen schemes have been uncovered in college and professional sports — hockey, baseball, basketball, football, soccer. Who knows how many other schemes have gone undetected.

• https://www.deseret.com/sports/2026/01/22/sports-gambling-pro-sports-problem/"