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NBA​ Gambling Scandal: Indictments,Insider Trading,and the Rise of Betting’s Influence

Nearly every sports ‍league,team and operation (including,ahem,media outlets) wants ‌in on⁢ sports‍ wagering ‌revenue. Sponsorships. Partnerships. Advertising. It’s legal,after all.

Maybe it’s direct ‌payments. Maybe it’s‌ advertising dollars from increased viewership that​ come through bigger ⁣and bigger broadcast deals. Whatever the source, ⁤sports is awash in gambling cash.

Nothing comes for free, tho, and on Thursday, the bill‍ came due for the NBA.

Every other league⁢ can only look ⁣on and know that ⁣if there was ever a‍ sure-bet, it’s that‍ this won’t be the last⁢ time a parade of ‍FBI‌ and Department of Justice figures stage a news conference to detail a slew of indictments ⁢over unsavory behavior⁢ involving sports betting.

more then 30 ‍people were ‌arrested,⁢ including big ⁣shots such as Hall of​ Fame‍ player and current Portland Trail Blazer coach ⁢Chauncey Billups.Simultaneously occurring, officials kept citing the juicy involvement ‌of‌ la Cosa Nostra and⁢ New York crime families,‍ including⁤ the‍ Gambinos and Genovese.

Like a “Hollywood movie,”⁣ Ricky Patel ​of‌ Homeland Securities Investigations said.

Gambling scandals​ are ‌not new in sports — from the Black‍ Sox to Tim Donaghy. However, the proliferation of ⁤legalized sports ‌wagering, ​putting betting in⁢ everyone’s face, if not ‌their phone, almost assuredly makes the ‍games more susceptible.

The⁤ indictments ‌contained captivating high-tech details of⁢ underground poker games with X-ray card readers‌ to help organized crime rig the action. And there were the alleged‌ actions of Damon Jones, a former player and assistant coach ​who the feds say tipped off others about ‌injuries the public didn’t yet know about.

One example: a certain unnamed‌ Los Angeles Lakers star would be sitting out a