The 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) preceded a torrent of unearthed sports betting scandals in North America.
That doesn’t mean that states legalizing and regulating sports betting — 41 United States jurisdictions have — set off a chain reaction of malfeasance. To the contrary, that professional and college athletes were suddenly choosing to play out their bad decisions in a market actively monitored by integrity services and sanctioning bodies made them easier to detect than with corner bookies or offshore sportsbooks.
“When we see something like these scandals happen, the perception is that there’s something wrong with it, in the media, in the public, and actually, what it is, is it’s something right,” Prime Sports co-founder Joe Brennan Jr. said. “Because the way things were prior to PASPA being overturned, nobody was ever caught. If they were influencing games, they could have been gambling with bookies, offshore guys, whatever it may be.
“No one knew what that was. So, as ugly as it may be, as confounding as it may be, we have to remember that this is what we wanted. What we wanted was perfection, human beings not to have the thought or to act upon negative impulses like this. We’re never going to achieve that scale.”
That nuance can be lost on a mainstream public that absorbs the misadventures of Jontay Porter or Calvin Ridley and comes to the conclusion that sports as we know it has been ruined. And that matters. To whatever degree their belief may be true, sports is absolutely different. The commonality between now and pre-PASPA is that illicit wagering has, and always will, exist. The difference is that with each scandal, prison term, and lifetime ban, the system is proved to have worked, and hopefully for athletes, a cautionary tale delivered.
“We have to remember that this is what we wanted.”
Joe Brennan, Jr., co-founder, Prime Sports
Below is a look at sports betting scandals from 2018 to the present.
NOTE: This timeline does not include incidents involving allowable forms of gambling for a player where they were punished by a team, such as Washington Nationals all-star CJ Abrams being demoted to Triple A in 2024 for gambling in a casino at 8 a.m. the morning of a game.
U.S. sports betting scandal timeline
National Basketball Association
- Jontay Porter (April 17, 2024): The NBA banned the former Toronto Raptors player for life after an investigation uncovered repeated violations of the league’s gambling policy. These included placing bets on NBA games and working with bettors to intentionally influence his performance to impact “under” prop wagers. He had been under suspension prior to the ban. Federal authorities later charged several individuals connected to the betting scheme with fraud. On July 10, 2024, Porter pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge in U.S. federal court. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18, 2025. Co-conspirator Long Phi Pham has a Dec. 16 sentencing hearing.
- Terry Rozier (Jan. 30, 2025): The New Orleans Pelicans point guard became the target of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York regarding prop bet irregularities in 2023, when he was a member of the Charlotte Hornets. ESPN reported that in a 2023 game a professional bettor made 30 bets in 46 minutes totaling $13,759 on Rozier under props. All of them hit when Rozier left the game in question after less than 10 minutes with what was reported as a foot injury.
- Malik Beasley (July 1, 2025): The free agent became the target of a gambling investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York because of potential prop bet irregularities.
National Football League
- Josh Shaw (Nov. 29, 2019): The first active NFL player suspended for betting on NFL games after the repeal of PASPA. The injured Arizona Cardinals defensive back was proved to have bet against his team on a parlay placed at a Las Vegas casino, but the NFL concluded that “no evidence was found that indicated Shaw used inside information” or “that any game was compromised in any way.” He never played another NFL game.
- Calvin Ridley (March 7, 2022): While on a five-day leave from the Atlanta Falcons to focus on his mental health, the wide receiver was found by the NFL to have placed bets on league games, including at least one parlay involving the Falcons. He was reinstated in March 2023 and now plays for the Tennessee Titans. During the investigation, Ridley pushed back against claims that he had a gambling problem, using social media to downplay the size of his wagers.
- Miles Austin (Dec., 23, 2022): The New York Jets’ wide receivers coach received a minimum one-year suspension after the NFL determined he had broken league policy by placing bets on sports and casino-style games using a legal mobile app. While players face strict guidelines on where they can place non-NFL wagers, league personnel are completely prohibited from any form of gambling. Austin has not been reinstated.
- Quintez Cephus, CJ Moore (April 21, 2023): The Lions players were suspended indefinitely for wagering on NFL games. Both were reinstated April 18, 2024. Neither has been re-signed.
- Shaka Toney (April 21, 2023): The Commanders defensive lineman was suspended indefinitely for betting on NFL games. He was reinstated April 22, 2024 and subsequently released. He’s not played in the NFL since.
- Jameson Williams, Stanley Berryhill (April 21, 2023): Both wide receivers incurred six-game suspensions for placing bets via mobile devices while at the Lions’ practice facility. Investigators found no evidence that either had bet on NFL games. Williams, a then a second-year player, said he was unaware of the league’s gambling restrictions on wagering while on team grounds. Both were reinstated after two games when the league and NFL Players Union agreed on clarified gambling regulations. Williams returned to a starting role, but Berryhill has not played in the NFL since.
- Rashod Berry, Nicholas Petit-Frere, Isaiah Rodgers Sr., Demetrius Taylor (June 29, 2023): Rodgers Sr. (now with the Minnesota Vikings), Berry (formerly of the Colts), and free agent Taylor were suspended for the remainder of the 2023 season after being found to have bet on NFL games. Rodgers Sr. later asserted his wagers were placed on behalf of friends and family. Berry and Taylor were reinstated April 18, 2024, though neither has signed with a team. Rodgers Sr. was reinstated April 23, 2024, and won Super Bowl LIX with Philadelphia Eagles. Titans offensive tackle Petit-Frere received a six-game suspension for placing sports bets while at team facilities. He played with Tennessee in 2024 and was signed and soon waived by San Francisco in the 2025 offseason.
National Hockey League
- Shane Pinto (Oct. 26, 2023): The Ottawa center was suspended for 41 games after NHL integrity monitors uncovered his involvement in activities related to sports betting. It was never revealed what Pinto actually did to break NHL rules. The 23-year-old returned to play on Jan. 12, 2024. Reflecting on the suspension, Pinto claimed he was “a little bit” surprised that his actions violated league rules but took responsibility, saying: “I’ve got to be more cautious, just more mature in what I’m doing. I got to realize the position I’m in. There’s always going to be a microscope on professional athletes. Like I said, I took that for granted and I’ve got to be better with it.”
Major League Baseball
- Yasiel Puig (Nov. 14, 2022): The U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed that the former Major League Baseball player had agreed to a felony plea deal for making false statements to federal investigators regarding his gambling activity. Prosecutors claimed Puig owed $282,900 to an illegal bookmaker, Wayne Nix, a fellow former athlete. Although Puig was not charged with betting on baseball, his gambling on various sporting events reportedly started during his time with the Cincinnati Reds. He later withdrew his plea agreement, citing new evidence that hadn’t been shared with his defense. Two federal court rulings declared that he wasn’t beholden to those agreements anymore. Prosecutors have taken no further action, and Puig currently plays in the Korean Baseball Organization.
- Ippei Mizuhara (March 24, 2024): Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter began a 57-month prison term on June 16, 2025 after pleading guilty to bank fraud and tax evasion. Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s personal accounts to steal nearly $17 million to cover gambling debts. Mathew Bowyer, the operator of the illegal gambling network Mizuhara used, pleaded guilty to federal offenses including money laundering and filing a false tax return. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 29.
- Tucupita Marcano (June 4, 2024): The San Diego Padres infielder received a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball for betting on Pittsburgh Pirates games while on their roster during the 2023 season. Reports indicate he did not place bets on games in which he participated despite placing 387 baseball bets for more than $150,000. Marcano became the first active MLB player in 101 years to be permanently banned for gambling on league games. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred emphasized the importance of the decision in a statement: “The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.” In addition, four other players — Michael Kelly (Athletics), Jay Groome (Padres), Jose Rodriguez (Phillies), and Andrew Saalfrank (Diamondbacks) — were each suspended for one year for betting on baseball. Kelly resumed his career with the A’s and Saalfrank returned to the Arizona minor league system. Groome and Rodriguez have not been re-signed.
- Pat Hoberg (June 14, 2024): An MLB investigation concluded that Hoberg, an umpire, failed to uphold the integrity of the game after he impeded an investigation that found he shared legal sports betting accounts with a professional poker player who bet on baseball. MLB found no evidence that Hoberg either manipulated outcomes or bet on baseball, but he lost a final appeal and was fired on Feb. 3, 2025.
- Luis Ortiz (July 4, 2025): The Cleveland Guardians pitcher was placed on “non-disciplinary leave” when potential micro-betting irregularities were flagged by integrity monitor IC360. Ortiz’s leave of absence was extended to Aug. 31 as MLB continues to investigate.
College
- Brad Bohannon (May 4, 2023): Alabama’s head baseball coach was dismissed after he shared confidential information about his team with Indiana bettor Bert Neff, who used it to place a wager against the Crimson Tide in a game against LSU. The NCAA later issued Bohannon a 15-year show-cause penalty. Neff pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and received an eight-month prison term, and three years of supervised release in July of 2024.
- Iowa/Iowa State athletes (May 8, 2023): More than 20 student-athletes and staff members from the Hawkeyes and Cyclones athletics departments were suspended for allegedly violating NCAA regulations related to sports betting. In 2024, several of those individuals filed a federal lawsuit, claiming their civil rights were violated when Iowa authorities accessed their private information without a warrant. Most eventually paid fines and had identity theft charges — from setting up fake accounts — dropped. Five Iowa State present or former football coaches acknowledged they knowingly violated NCAA sports betting rules and agreed to a one-year show-cause order.
- Temple men’s basketball (March 8, 2024): Caesars Sportsbook and FanDuel suspended betting on at least one Owls game when IC360 (then U.S. Integrity) detected what it considered unusual wagering.
- Notre Dame swim team (Aug. 15, 2024): Athletics director Pete Bevacqua shut the team down for a year after an investigation found “numerous violations of NCAA rules prohibiting gambling on intercollegiate swimming and other athletic competitions” of which coaches were apparently unaware, according to an external review. The school announced in February 2025 that the program will return for the 2025-26 season.
- Kayshon Boutte (Jan. 25, 2024): A wide receiver for the New England Patriots, Boutte was arrested by Louisiana State Police and faced a felony computer fraud charge along with a misdemeanor for underage gambling, connected to his time at LSU. Authorities claimed he set up a fake online betting account to place wagers while underage during 2022 and 2023. All charges were dropped in 2024.
- Mykell Robinson, Jalen Weaver, Zaon Collins (Feb. 22, 2025): The Fresno State men’s basketball players were investigated for participating in daily fantasy sports and sports betting. Neither the NCAA nor Fresno State has sanctioned the players officially.
Golf
- Vince India & Jake Staiano (Oct. 27, 2023): Participants in the PGA TOUR developmental Korn Ferry Tour were sanctioned for betting on golf tournaments in which they didn’t participate. India was suspended for three months, Staiano for six.
Soccer
- Felipe Hernandez (Oct. 8, 2021): Sporting KC midfielder Felipe Hernandez became the first MLS player suspended for gambling after an investigation revealed he had bet on league games, partaking in “extensive and unlawful sports gambling.” Prior to the league’s findings, Hernandez had disclosed his actions to the team and voiced concerns for his safety due to significant gambling debts. He was reinstated in January 2022 but was placed on administrative leave on June 14, 2024, following a second violation of MLS gambling rules.
