MLB and NBA Scandals highlight US Betting worries.
Rozier (Left), Ortiz (Centre) and Clase (Right) were all apprehended by the FBI in separate illegal betting scandals.
With American sport contending with a run of recent high-profile betting scandals, Jack Lewis explores a growing problem hampering the legitimacy of America’s pastimes and issues surrounding regulation.
Sports Gambling legislation had been hampered by the Federal Government until 2018. The striking down of PASPA 1992 allowed State Governments across the board to govern Sports Betting for the first time in US history.
Seven years later, 38 states and the District of Columbia permit some form of sports betting. Bookmakers generated a revenue of $48.8 billion in 2025 so far, and gambling on sports is taking up a much larger portion of the public’s consciousness than ever before.
Recent betting scandals involving NBA star Terry Rozier, together with the MLB’s Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, confirm the influx of Sports Betting and its tough relationship with sporting legitimacy.
Ortiz and Clase were suspended by their Cleveland Guardians franchise in July amid an investigation into gambling-related activity. Now, in December 2025, the Dominican pair faces up to 65 years in prison on charges of wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.
Fellow sports star Terry Rozier has also struck controversy. Rozier of the Miami Heat has been accused of sharing inside gambling information and removing himself from at least one game early for the profits of gamblers.
Hero to zero: Documented history tells us that the scandals in question aren’t the first, and certainly won’t be the last.
Rozier’s former teammate, Kevin Love, recently commented on the “stain” that betting has placed on sport, calling for the issues “to be resolved” and for a healthier relationship with gambling to be established.
With sports betting still in relative infancy in the US, leading economist Professor David Forrest, notes how underprepared regulation has been.
“All of the pressure from gambling legalisation came from organised sport.
“Very few of the states that have legalised sports betting have the infrastructure of the United Kingdom or Europe. It was quite reckless, in some states, not to put in the kind of regulations that we have here in Europe.”
Since legislative power was granted to states back in 2018, states have slowly surrendered to the tax dollar benefits that gambling can bring.
Forrest meanwhile, does not expect regulation to arrive quickly:
“If you can get the prospect of gambling legalised with taxation, that becomes a significant proportion of the total revenue of smaller states.”
“There’s more financial incentive for governments to treat the money themselves (keeping the funds) and not worry too much about restrictions.”
With the arrests of all four suspects and the prospect of FBI investigations, American sport faces an uncertain future. Bookmaking remains lucrative to almost all involved, yet raises questions over the legitimacy of sport in its entirety.
Clase, Ortiz, and Rozier have all pleaded not guilty in November and are expected back in court in early 2026.
The charges in numbers: Clase, Rozier and Ortiz charges and history.
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