The rocky marriage of workforce sports activities and illicit playing dates again greater than a century in the US, bookended by the game-fixing scandal by eight Chicago White Sox gamers within the 1919 World Collection and the present FBI investigation into prop betting and poker recreation fixing involving varied NBA figures. No main skilled sport seems proof against playing scandals, as the next partial timeline suggests.
NBA
1950: Sol Levy, an NBA referee from 1948-51, confronted seven prison counts associated to fixing video games through the 1950-51 season, primarily by calling fouls to have an effect on scoring. As The New York Occasions reported, he obtained a three-year sentence in New York in 1953 however gained an attraction in 1954 that led to his launch.
1951: A playing scandal on the Metropolis Faculty of New York was not NBA-specific however did contain gamers who on the time have been enjoying within the NBA. Gamers and former gamers from seven schools have been arrested on point-shaving fees stemming from faculty basketball video games from 1947-1950. Amongst these charged have been former College of Kentucky gamers Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, who have been enjoying on the time for the Indianapolis Olympians of the NBA and subsequently have been banned after they later admitted to accepting bribes.
Former Kentucky teammate Dale Barnstable, who additionally admitted to taking a bribe together with Groza and Beard, was a seventh-round decide by the Boston Celtics within the 1950 NBA Draft however selected to not play skilled basketball on the time. He was later banned.
Different faculty gamers from the 1951 scandal who have been arrested included Bradley College’s Gene Melchiorre, who was the No. 1 decide within the 1951 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets however was banned and by no means performed an NBA recreation.
Amongst different NBA draftees who have been concerned within the scandal however by no means performed within the NBA: Invoice Mann (Bradley, 1951 NBA third-round decide), Irwin Dambrot (CCNY, seventh decide in 1950 NBA Draft). Norm Mager (CCNY, 1950 fifth-round decide) was drafted in 1950 and spent one season with the Baltimore Bullets.
1954: Jack Molinas was a former Columbia College participant chosen within the first spherical of the 1953 NBA Draft by the Fort Wayne Pistons. Molinas was discovered to have wager on Pistons video games throughout his 1953-54 rookie season and was banned after he confessed to wagering. In 1961, Molinas was discovered responsible and sentenced to 10 to fifteen years in jail for bribing gamers to shave factors in faculty video games between 1959 and 1961.
Amongst these affected by that scandal was Doug Moe, who would later go on to develop into an ABA and NBA coach. As bribe cash flowed amongst conspirators, Moe declined a suggestion and refused to throw a recreation whereas he performed on the College of North Carolina. Moe was a 1961 NBA second-round draft decide and performed 5 seasons within the ABA earlier than becoming a member of the teaching ranks.
Corridor of Famer Connie Hawkins was additionally banned, regardless of proclaiming his innocence after he, too, was implicated within the 1961 Molinas scandal. Walter Kennedy, NBA commissioner on the time, banned Hawkins, even after Molinas and different co-conspirators mentioned that Hawkins “had no participation or information of fixing video games.” Hawkins’ ban was finally lifted. His enjoying profession spanned 9 seasons within the ABA and NBA, and he was elected to the Basketball Corridor of Fame in 1992.
1985-86: John “Scorching Rod” Williams, who performed 13 NBA seasons, was immersed in two trials associated to betting scandals when he performed at Tulane, earlier than he performed within the NBA. The primary trial resulted in a mistrial, and Williams was acquitted within the second.
2007: The FBI contacted the NBA in 2007 because it investigated allegations that veteran referee Tim Donaghy was betting on video games through which he was officiating. Donaghy resigned in July 2007 and finally pleaded responsible to fees of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and transmitting wagering info.
2024: Jontay Porter, a two-way participant most lately underneath contract with the Toronto Raptors, was banned from the NBA after a league investigation decided he had disclosed confidential info to sports activities bettors and underperformed in a number of video games for betting functions. He additionally wager on NBA video games, the investigation discovered. Though he did not play in these video games, it nonetheless constituted a violation of league guidelines.
2025: An intensive and ongoing FBI investigation recognized a present and former NBA participant and one coach in alleged, fixed-game betting scandals, in addition to alleged participation in poker video games rigged by Mafia figures.
NFL
1946: Within the NFL championship towards the Chicago Bears, New York Giants quarterback Frank Filchock and fullback Merle Hapes have been implicated in an alleged bribery scheme to throw the sport. The Bears gained 24-14. Hapes was suspended for not reporting the bribe provide earlier than the sport. Filchock was allowed to play that day and was later suspended. Hapes by no means performed once more within the NFL. Filchock performed yet another NFL season in 1950.
1963: The NFL suspended Detroit Lions defensive deal with Alex Karras and Inexperienced Bay Packers halfback Paul Hornung for one 12 months for violating league playing coverage. Each gamers returned to the league the next 12 months.
1983: Artwork Schlichter, the previous Ohio State All-America quarterback, was suspended for one 12 months for violating the NFL playing coverage whereas enjoying with the Baltimore Colts. The NFL reinstated him in 1984, and Schlichter performed his remaining season in 1985. Schlichter was arrested in 1987 on a misdemeanor playing cost and sentenced to jail in 2012 on playing fees.
2019: Whereas on injured reserve, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Josh Shaw was suspended for playing on an NFL recreation. Although reinstated in 2021, Shaw by no means performed within the league once more.
2022: Atlanta Falcons vast receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for betting on NFL video games through the 2021 season. Reinstated in 2023, Ridley presently performs for the Tennessee Titans.
2022: New York Jets vast receivers coach Miles Austin was suspended for playing on non-NFL sports activities. The present standing of the previous All-Professional, with a 10-year NFL profession, is unclear.
2023: Detroit Lions vast receivers Jameson Williams, Quintez Cephus, Stanley Berryhill and security C.J. Moore, and Washington Commanders defensive finish Shaka Toney have been suspended for violating the league’s playing coverage. Williams and Berryhill have been suspended for six video games. Cephus, Moore and Toney have been suspended indefinitely. Williams returned to the Lions and presently is on the roster. Berryhill didn’t return and has but to play within the league once more. Cephus, Moore and Toney have been reinstated in April 2024 however haven’t performed within the league because the 2022 common season.
Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and defensive finish Rashod Berry, and free agent defensive finish Demetrius Taylor have been suspended indefinitely no less than by means of 2023 for betting on NFL video games. A six-game suspension was issued to Tennessee Titans offensive deal with Nicholas Petit-Frere for betting on non-NFL sports activities. Rodgers, Berry and Taylor have been reinstated in April 2024. Rodgers is the one participant among the many three nonetheless within the league and presently performs for Minnesota.
Broncos defensive finish Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended for betting on NFL video games through the 2022 season. He was reinstated in August 2024 and presently performs for Denver.
Ex-Jaguars worker Amit Patel pleaded responsible to stealing $22 million from the Jaguars and was sentenced in March 2024 to 6½ years in jail. His lawyer mentioned Patel used the cash to pay his playing money owed. Patel presently faces grand theft fees in Florida that would lengthen his jail time if convicted.
MLB
1920: Shoeless Joe Jackson and 7 teammates implicated within the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal got lifetime suspensions by Decide Kenesaw Mountain Landis. MLB successfully exonerated them this 12 months, saying deceased gamers can now not be banned.
1947: Brooklyn Dodgers supervisor Leo Durocher was suspended for the season for consorting with gamblers.
1970: Pitcher Denny McLain was suspended by then-MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn for a part of the 1970 season for alleged bookmaking actions in 1967. McLain gained 31 video games for the Detroit Tigers in 1968 and returned to the membership in July 1970.
1989: Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits chief and then-manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was banned for all times by commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. Baseball investigator John Dowd concluded Rose wager $2,000 on his personal workforce whereas supervisor. The ban was lifted this 12 months following Rose’s loss of life, making him eligible for the Corridor of Fame.
2024: Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres was positioned on the completely ineligible listing for violating MLB’s sports activities betting insurance policies. Marcano allegedly positioned 387 baseball bets, together with 231 MLB-related bets, by means of a authorized sportsbook. Of the MLB bets, 25 included Pittsburgh Pirates video games whereas he was a member of the group.
MLB additionally introduced that Oakland A’s pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers obtained one-year suspensions for playing violations. Kelly returned to the A’s in June.
February 2025: Former MLB umpire Pat Hoberg, fired in Might 2024 for violating the league’s playing guidelines, misplaced his attraction and his firing was upheld. Hoberg has denied betting on baseball and an MLB investigation into his conduct discovered no proof that he positioned bets on baseball or that he took any motion to control the outcomes of any video games, in accordance with MLB.com. However by sharing authorized sports activities betting accounts with knowledgeable poker participant and pal who did place bets on baseball and by impeding the MLB investigation by means of the deletion of messages with the pal, Hoberg was dominated by MLB to have did not uphold the integrity of the sport.
July 2025: Cleveland Guardians beginning pitcher Luis Ortiz and reliever Emmanuel Clase have been positioned on nondisciplinary paid go away attributable to an ongoing MLB sports activities betting investigation into uncommon prop betting curiosity in particular person pitches by Ortiz in two Guardians video games in June.
June 2025: Ippei Mizuhara, the disgraced former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers celebrity Shohei Ohtani, entered federal jail in Pennsylvania to start a 57-month time period for stealing almost $17 million from Ohtani. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March 2024 after an ESPN investigation revealed he despatched thousands and thousands in wire transfers from Ohtani’s account to an unlawful bookmaker. He admitted having positioned about 19,000 bets with the bookie over a two-year interval and collected over $40 million in debt.
NHL
1946: Walter “Babe” Pratt, star Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman, was suspended 9 video games for betting on hockey video games. The ruling included an NHL Board of Governors assertion that each one future betting scandals would result in a lifetime suspension for gamers discovered to have any connection to betting or gamblers. Pratt performed 12 seasons within the NHL and was elected to the Hockey Corridor of Fame in 1966.
1948: Billy Taylor of the New York Rangers was banned for all times and the Boston Bruins’ Don Gallinger was suspended indefinitely for playing allegations. Neither performed within the league once more regardless of being reinstated by the NHL Board of Governors in 1970.
2006: Rick Tocchet was positioned on go away as Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach amid allegations that Tocchet financed a nationwide playing ring. In Might 2007, Tocchet, who performed 18 seasons within the NHL, pleaded responsible to operating a sports activities playing ring. Tocchet mentioned he by no means wager on skilled hockey. He was sentenced to 2 years’ probation. Tocchet returned to the Coyotes bench in February 2008.
2023: Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators was suspended for 41 video games for actions regarding sports activities wagering. The league, nonetheless, discovered no proof that Pinto had wager on NHL video games. Pinto nonetheless performs for Ottawa.
ESPN employees researcher John Mastroberardino compiled the data on this report.