“The fix is in” is oftentimes a joke, but recently it seems like that’s been more of a reality than humor.
Gambling scandals have always been an ugly black eye in sports, dating back to the early 20th century with the infamous Black Sox.
And it likely dates back longer than that.
Fixing sports for profit is something that has likely been happening for centuries, including when the Gladiators battled in the Colosseum.
You’ll notice that a lot of this happened in the underground market, with legal online sports betting making it substantially easier to catch those looking to put down big money on a game they control.
But like anything, the widespread availability has also made it easier to find out who is attempting to make a quick buck while compromising the league.
Here’s a look back at major sports betting controversies.
Major sports betting controversies
Arnold Rothstein fixes the 1919 World Series with help from eight White Sox players
We’ll start with organized crime figure Arnold Rothstein and the 1919 White Sox, who threw the World Series.
Rothstein led a gambling syndicate in the early 1900s. He was able to compromise players by promising to pay the White Sox players once they had successfully lost the World Series.
Court records show that each player was given between $70,000-$100,000 to lose the World Series to the Reds that year.
Rothstein was never officially convicted of the crime.
1951 CCNY betting scandal
Joked about in the hit TV show “The Sopranos” when Corrado “Junior” Soprano says that rival New York boss Carmine Lupertazzi “invented point-shaving,” this betting scandal was the beginning of a long dark history for college basketball.
Four New York schools were compromised in this scandal, alongside two in the Midwest and one in the South.
Thirty-three players were involved, and gamblers looking to shave points to beat the spread offered a player making minimum wage ($0.75 per hour) $1,000 (equivalent to $12,800 in 2024).
This was eventually the downfall of this scandal, as he went to the New York district attorney.
But it continued for several more years and who knows what wasn’t uncovered in this 30-year period.
1961 men’s college basketball scandal: 37 students arrested
A widespread betting scandal continued as 37 students from 21 schools were arrested.
This is essentially a continuation of the 1951 scandal, as gambler Jack Molinas was involved in both scandals.
Saint Joseph’s University was stripped of its third-place finish, while future NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue unknowingly played in the fixed game.
Tagliabue would staunchly oppose legal gambling in the NFL during his run as commissioner from 1989-2006.
1978-79 Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal
American mafia members, notably referenced in the movie “Goodfellas,” compromised several Boston College basketball players.
The Lucchese crime family ran a scheme where multiple players were being paid off for winning bets.
It began with Boston College against Providence in December 1978 and continued through their 22-9 season record.
Players were given $500 to $1,000 to throw the games.
Pete Rose betting scandal, banned for life
His name is the most synomynous with sports betting, having been given a lifetime ban while the manager of the Cincinnati Reds and thus being ineligible for the Hall of Fame despite being a shoo-in.
Starting in 1985, Rose says he bet on basketball, football, and baseball –– including his Reds –– but claims to only have wagered on his team to win during that time.
Rose has since been in and out of the news, most recently for placing the first legal sports betting wager in the state of Ohio.
He is unlikely to make the Hall of Fame anytime soon, considering commissioner Rob Manfred has stated that the legalization of sports betting does vindicate him.
Rose also joked that he wished he had an interpreter, similar to that of Shohei Ohtani.
NBA referee Tim Donaghy betting on games 2003-07
NBA referee Tim Donaghy mostly denies betting on games himself, but as Bill Simmons laid out on his podcast, he’s mostly lied about when he stopped gambling.
Donaghy was put in jail for giving out betting advice on games that he was officiating.
He claims that the mafia threatened him and his family to continue the betting advice, although as author Sean Patrick Griffin noted, Donaghy continued betting on games with Pete Ruggieri after Jimmy Bautista and other members allegedly in the mafia were put in jail.
Donaghy stays in the limelight whenever possible, attempting to be a voice of reason for the gambling controversies that surround sports today.
2019: Cardinals player Josh Shaw becomes first player suspended for illegal gambling
Josh Shaw was an Arizona Cardinals special teamer who bet against his own team at a Caesars Sportsbook in Las Vegas as a part of a parlay.
The bet lost, and he never played in the league again.
UFC coach James Krause and fighter Darrick Minner kicked out of the promotion, under federal investigation for suspicious betting
This still hasn’t been resolved despite it happening in November 2022.
There was massive betting odds movement in a fight involving coach James Krause’s fighter, Darrick Minner, who appeared to be clearly compromised in the first round of his fight against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke.
Krause also ran an MMA betting syndicate at this time, where he was allegedly giving out betting advice as a coach.
He’s currently involved in real estate flipping now that his MMA coaching career is over.
NFL receiver Calvin Ridley suspended for the 2022 season for betting on games
Formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, Calvin Ridley was suspended for making a DraftKings account and betting on NFL games.
Ridley was away from the Falcons at the time and placed several parlays on games, most of which lost.
He was reinstated and traded to the Jaguars before signing with the Tennessee Titans on a big contract this offseason.
2022: Jets WR coach Miles Austin suspended for at least one year
Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin was suspended for gambling but not found betting on football (NFL or college).
Austin has not been reinstated yet by the league.
Multiple NFL players suspended in 2023, including WR Jameson Williams
Multiple players in the NFL were suspended at one time for violating the league’s gambling policy.
The players suspended included Williams, Isaiah Rodgers Sr., Rashod Berry, Demetrius Taylor, Quintez Cephus, C.J. Moore and Stanley Berryhill.
Williams was not found to have bet on football in any capacity and was only given a six-game suspension as a result.
The NFL then began clearly laying out it rules involving gambling with the team and without the team.
Alabama college baseball coach fired for link to betting
Brad Bohannon, the former Alabama baseball coach, was caught giving inside information to a friend, who quickly turned and attempted to wager $100,000 on a college baseball game.
This was quickly snuffed out and Bohannon was given an indefinite suspension before being fired.
NHL player Shane Pinto suspended 41 games
Shane Pinto did not bet on hockey himself but had a connection to a third party, who was indeed wagering on the NHL.
The NHL allows players to wager on sports other than hockey.
Jaguars staffer steals $22 million from team, deposits and loses on FanDuel
Amit Patel was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for fraud, where he stole a massive sum of $22 million from the team before depositing that money into FanDuel and DraftKings.
He used some of the other money for expenditure and the Jaguars attempted to get the money back from FanDuel but it doesn’t appear that will be happening.
Jontay Porter given lifetime ban for betting on the NBA
It was an obvious parlay scheme that he felt like he was getting away with initially but quickly found out he was not.
Bettors slammed his unders, seemingly with inside knowledge from Porter that he was going to be playing the whole game or would be checking himself out early.
One bettor attempted to bet $80,000 on a same-game parlay involving his ovrs to win $1.2 million.
That bet, first reported by The Post, was refunded and the bettor kicked off DraftKings.
Porter was kicked out of the NBA for his actions.
Shohei Ohtani’s bank account wires $4.5 million to illegal bookmaking operation; interpreter Ippei Mizuhara pleads guilty
This was the wildest betting scandal of the bunch involving baseball’s best player.
Ohtani had allegedly wired $4.5 million to an illegal bookmaking operation, although Ohtani and his team went back on this statement alleging that Mizuhara actually stole the money.
Ohtani has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Mizuhara lost $40 million across 19,000 bets in just 26 months, and plead guilty to bank and tax fraud.
Check Out the Best Sports Betting Sites and Apps
- Check out the best sports betting sites
- Download the best sports betting apps
Tucupita Marcano given lifetime ban, four others suspended one year for gambling
Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was caught gambling on Pirates’ games while on the injured list.
All of his parlays involving Pittsburgh lost.
Marcano will now never step foot on a major league baseball diamond, while four other players, Michael Kelly, Andrew Saalfrank, Jay Groome, and Jose Rodriguez received one-year suspensions.
