The once-taboo sports betting activity in the US has emerged as a vast industry with sports enthusiasts across the nation becoming ardent participants. This expansion has been happening since the Supreme Court decision in 2018 that lifted the federal ban on sports betting. That being said, the industry is not without its challenges. The increase in betting has also led to a rise in controversies related to gambling. Over the years, dozens of professionals, including athletes and coaches have been caught infiltrating the games and violating gambling rules. Here, let us take a look at the biggest scandals and controversies in American sports history.
Biggest Scandals in the Sports Gambling History
1. Black Sox Scandal (1919)
The Black Sox Scandal is one of the biggest game-fixing scandals in US baseball history. In the 1919 World Series, 8 members of the Chicago White Sox team of Major League Baseball deliberately threw the game for financial gains from a gambling syndicate. Though the players weren’t found guilty, they were permanently banned from professional baseball.
2. Babe Pratt (1946)
In January 1946, the renowned Canadian professional ice hockey player, Walter Peter “Babe” Pratt was banned from the National Hockey League (NHL) after being caught gambling.
3. CCNY Point-Shaving Scandal (1950-1951)
This is one of the major point-shaving scandals in college basketball sports in which 7 American schools, including City College of New York (CCNY), were involved. Following the scandal, CCNY was banned from playing at Madison Square Garden, the University of Kentucky had to cancel a season, and several other schools involved suffered the consequences.
4. Totonero (1980)
It was a soccer match-fixing scandal in Italy involving 5 football clubs namely, Avellino, Bologna, Lazio, Milan, Perugia, Palermo, and Taranto. All these clubs were found guilty and the famous player Paolo Rossi was banned for two years.
5. Paul Hornung and Alex Karras (1963)
A major scandal came to light in 1963 involving the renowned halfback and kicker Paul Hornung for the Green Bay Packers and defensive tackle Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions. They were found betting on NFL games and suspended indefinitely in April 1963. However, they were re-evaluated, and the suspension was dropped in March 1964.
6. Pete Rose (1989)
In March 1989, the all-time hits baseball player Pete Rose who was the leader and manager of the Cincinnati Reds was reported to be betting on Major League games. Following the investigations into the matter, Rose was punished with a lifetime ban from baseball in August of the same year.
7. Boston College Basketball Point-Shaving Scandal (1978-79)
Yet another point-shaving scandal that rocked college basketball based on which the 1990s classic ‘Goodfellas’ by the great filmmaker Martin Scorsese was made. It was found that Boston College Eagles men’s basketball players were bribed by the American Mafia to lose the game. After the trials, the conspirators were sentenced to imprisonment and some were permanently banned.
8. John “Hot Rod” Williams (1985)
John Williams, the NBA star was arrested following doubts about his involvement in point shaving. Though the first trial ended in a mistrial, the second trial found him not guilty. However, due to the scandal, Tulane stopped its men’s basketball program for 4 seasons.
9. Northwestern Players Pint-Shave Scandal (1995)
In the 1994-95 season, two Northwestern basketball players were sentenced to short-term imprisonment after they were found guilty of taking bribes to fix Big Ten games.
10. Rick Tocchet (Operation Slapshot 2007)
The Canadian professional ice hockey coach Rick Tocchet was accused in 2006 of financing a New Jersey-based sports gambling ring. The ring was discovered in an undercover investigation Operation Slapshot. In 2007, Tocchet pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years probation for his involvement in the conspiracy and gambling.
11. Tim Donaghy (2007)
The former professional basketball referee, Tim Donaghy was caught in 2007 for his involvement in an NBA betting scandal in which he used his professional knowledge to bet on various basketball games. Though he was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, this huge scandal vanished quickly.
12. Arthur Ernest Schlichter
The American former football quarterback, Art Schlichter was involved in several gambling scandals and other corruptive activities with the latest being the charges against him with first-degree felony for the theft of more than $1 million.
13. Calvin Ridley (2022)
The Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Orin Ridley was suspended for one year in 2022 for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.
These are the most controversial gambling violation stories in American sports and the nasty truth is that more scandals will get added to the list.
Sports and Gambling: In the Spotlight for the Right and Wrong Reasons
In this article, we have gone through the biggest scandals in the history of American sports betting. Though the sports betting industry has more scope for advancement, this growth will witness more controversies and gambling scandals as well. So, it seems that the betting market will thrive with all these challenges.
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