ESPN News Services
Oct 28, 2025, 02:27 PM ET
The rocky marriage of team sports and illicit gambling dates back more than a century in the United States, bookended by the game-fixing scandal by eight Chicago White Sox players in the 1919 World Series and the current FBI investigation into prop betting and poker game fixing involving various NBA figures. No major professional sport appears immune to gambling scandals, as the following partial timeline suggests.
NBA
1950: Sol Levy, an NBA referee from 1948-51, faced seven criminal counts related to fixing games during the 1950-51 season, primarily by calling fouls to affect scoring. As The New York Times reported, he received a three-year sentence in New York in 1953 but won an appeal in 1954 that led to his release.
1951: A gambling scandal at the City College of New York was not NBA-specific but did involve players who at the time were playing in the NBA. Players and former players from seven colleges were arrested on point-shaving charges stemming from college basketball games from 1947-1950. Among those charged were former University of Kentucky players Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, who were playing at the time for the Indianapolis Olympians of the NBA and subsequently were banned after they later admitted to accepting bribes.
Former Kentucky teammate Dale Barnstable, who also admitted to taking a bribe along with Groza and Beard, was a seventh-round pick by the Boston Celtics in the 1950 NBA Draft but chose not to play professional basketball at the time. He was later banned.
Other college players from the 1951 scandal who were arrested included Bradley University's Gene Melchiorre, who was the No. 1 pick in the 1951 NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets but was banned and never played an NBA game.
Among other NBA draftees who were involved in the scandal but never played in the NBA: Bill Mann (Bradley, 1951 NBA third-round pick), Irwin Dambrot (CCNY, seventh pick in 1950 NBA Draft). Norm Mager (CCNY, 1950 fifth-round pick) was drafted in 1950 and spent one season with the Baltimore Bullets.
1954: Jack Molinas was a former Columbia University player selected in the first round of the 1953 NBA Draft by the Fort Wayne Pistons. Molinas was found to have bet on Pistons games during his 1953-54 rookie season and was banned after he confessed to wagering. In 1961, Molinas was found guilty and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison for bribing players to shave points in college games between 1959 and 1961.
Among those affected by that scandal was Doug Moe, who would later go on to become an ABA and NBA coach. As bribe money flowed among conspirators, Moe declined an offer and refused to throw a game while he played at the University of North Carolina. Moe was a 1961 NBA second-round draft pick and played five seasons in the ABA before joining the coaching ranks.
Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins was also banned, despite proclaiming his innocence after he, too, was implicated in the 1961 Molinas scandal. Walter Kennedy, NBA commissioner at the time, banned Hawkins, even after Molinas and other co-conspirators said that Hawkins "had no participation or knowledge of fixing games." Hawkins' ban was eventually lifted. His playing career spanned nine seasons in the ABA and NBA, and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.
1985-86: John "Hot Rod" Williams, who played 13 NBA seasons, was immersed in two trials related to betting scandals when he played at Tulane, before he played in the NBA. The first trial ended in a mistrial, and Williams was acquitted in the second.
2007: The FBI contacted the NBA in 2007 as it investigated allegations that veteran referee Tim Donaghy was betting on games in which he was officiating. Donaghy resigned in July 2007 and eventually pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and transmitting wagering information.
2024: Jontay Porter, a two-way player most recently under contract with the Toronto Raptors, was banned from the NBA after a league investigation determined he had disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and underperformed in one or more games for betting purposes. He also bet on NBA games, the investigation found. Although he didn't play in those games, it still constituted a violation of league rules.
2025: An extensive and ongoing FBI investigation identified a current and former NBA player and one coach in alleged, fixed-game betting scandals, as well as alleged participation in poker games rigged by Mafia figures.
NFL
1946: In the NFL championship against the Chicago Bears, New York Giants quarterback Frank Filchock and fullback Merle Hapes were implicated in an alleged bribery scheme to throw the game. The Bears won 24-14. Hapes was suspended for not reporting the bribe offer before the game. Filchock was allowed to play that day and was later suspended. Hapes never played again in the NFL. Filchock played one more NFL season in 1950.
1963: The NFL suspended Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras and Green Bay Packers halfback Paul Hornung for one year for violating league gambling policy. Both players returned to the league the following year.
1983: Art Schlichter, the former Ohio State All-America quarterback, was suspended for one year for violating the NFL gambling policy while playing with the Baltimore Colts. The NFL reinstated him in 1984, and Schlichter played his final season in 1985. Schlichter was arrested in 1987 on a misdemeanor gambling charge and sentenced to prison in 2012 on gambling charges.
2019: While on injured reserve, Arizona Cardinals cornerback Josh Shaw was suspended for gambling on an NFL game. Though reinstated in 2021, Shaw never played in the league again.
2022: Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for betting on NFL games during the 2021 season. Reinstated in 2023, Ridley currently plays for the Tennessee Titans.
2022: New York Jets wide receivers coach Miles Austin was suspended for gambling on non-NFL sports. The current status of the former All-Pro, with a 10-year NFL career, is unclear.
2023: Detroit Lions wide receivers Jameson Williams, Quintez Cephus, Stanley Berryhill and safety C.J. Moore, and Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney were suspended for violating the league's gambling policy. Williams and Berryhill were suspended for six games. Cephus, Moore and Toney were suspended indefinitely. Williams returned to the Lions and currently is on the roster. Berryhill did not return and has yet to play in the league again. Cephus, Moore and Toney were reinstated in April 2024 but have not played in the league since the 2022 regular season.
Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and defensive end Rashod Berry, and free agent defensive end Demetrius Taylor were suspended indefinitely at least through 2023 for betting on NFL games. A six-game suspension was issued to Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere for betting on non-NFL sports. Rodgers, Berry and Taylor were reinstated in April 2024. Rodgers is the only player among the three still in the league and currently plays for Minnesota.
Broncos defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended for betting on NFL games during the 2022 season. He was reinstated in August 2024 and currently plays for Denver.
Ex-Jaguars employee Amit Patel pleaded guilty to stealing $22 million from the Jaguars and was sentenced in March 2024 to 6½ years in prison. His lawyer said Patel used the money to pay his gambling debts. Patel currently faces grand theft charges in Florida that could extend his prison time if convicted.
MLB
1920: Shoeless Joe Jackson and seven teammates implicated in the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal were given lifetime suspensions by Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. MLB effectively exonerated them this year, saying deceased players can no longer be banned.
1947: Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher was suspended for the season for consorting with gamblers.
1970: Pitcher Denny McLain was suspended by then-MLB commissioner Bowie Kuhn for part of the 1970 season for alleged bookmaking activities in 1967. McLain won 31 games for the Detroit Tigers in 1968 and returned to the club in July 1970.
1989: Pete Rose, baseball's all-time hits leader and then-manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was banned for life by commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. Baseball investigator John Dowd concluded Rose bet $2,000 on his own team while manager. The ban was lifted this year following Rose's death, making him eligible for the Hall of Fame.
2024: Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres was placed on the permanently ineligible list for violating MLB's sports betting policies. Marcano allegedly placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 MLB-related bets, through a legal sportsbook. Of the MLB bets, 25 included Pittsburgh Pirates games while he was a member of the organization.
MLB also announced that Oakland A's pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers received one-year suspensions for gambling violations. Kelly returned to the A's in June.
February 2025: Former MLB umpire Pat Hoberg, fired in May 2024 for violating the league's gambling rules, lost his appeal and his firing was upheld. Hoberg has denied betting on baseball and an MLB investigation into his conduct found no evidence that he placed bets on baseball or that he took any action to manipulate the outcomes of any games, according to MLB.com. But by sharing legal sports betting accounts with a professional poker player and friend who did place bets on baseball and by impeding the MLB investigation through the deletion of messages with the friend, Hoberg was ruled by MLB to have failed to uphold the integrity of the game.
July 2025: Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz and reliever Emmanuel Clase were placed on nondisciplinary paid leave due to an ongoing MLB sports betting investigation into unusual prop betting interest in individual pitches by Ortiz in two Guardians games in June.
June 2025: Ippei Mizuhara, the disgraced former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, entered federal prison in Pennsylvania to begin a 57-month term for stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara in March 2024 after an ESPN investigation revealed he sent millions in wire transfers from Ohtani's account to an illegal bookmaker. He admitted having placed about 19,000 bets with the bookie over a two-year period and accumulated over $40 million in debt.
NHL
1946: Walter "Babe" Pratt, star Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman, was suspended nine games for betting on hockey games. The ruling included an NHL Board of Governors statement that all future betting scandals would lead to a lifetime suspension for players found to have any connection to betting or gamblers. Pratt played 12 seasons in the NHL and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966.
1948: Billy Taylor of the New York Rangers was banned for life and the Boston Bruins' Don Gallinger was suspended indefinitely for gambling allegations. Neither played in the league again despite being reinstated by the NHL Board of Governors in 1970.
2006: Rick Tocchet was placed on leave as Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach amid allegations that Tocchet financed a nationwide gambling ring. In May 2007, Tocchet, who played 18 seasons in the NHL, pleaded guilty to running a sports gambling ring. Tocchet said he never bet on professional hockey. He was sentenced to two years' probation. Tocchet returned to the Coyotes bench in February 2008.
2023: Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators was suspended for 41 games for activities relating to sports wagering. The league, however, found no evidence that Pinto had bet on NHL games. Pinto still plays for Ottawa.
ESPN staff researcher John Mastroberardino compiled the information in this report.
