PRESS BOX: You can bet sports betting has gotten out of hand

Kyler Gilliam, Staff Writer 

One year ago I wrote a press box about how much I despise sports betting and the culture it brings into the sphere of athletics. I said we were too far gone then, and recent developments in the NBA have proven my point.

Former Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were arrested for their connection to an illegal sports gambling operation in October.

The pair was allegedly involved with the Bonanno, Gambino and Genovese crime families of New York. All three are notorious crime syndicates part of the “Five Families” that dominate organized crime in New York.

This feels like only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to shady practices in sports betting. The large amounts of money involved can lead to questionable decisions.

This betting culture holds the sports community hostage with large corporations and casinos’ large investments in the business — funding constant advertising during games, daily shows and podcasts.

Every game that is discussed has a betting line and an over/under line right under it. We are constantly told by corporations to burn our money on the game of odds.

It would be naive to think the athletes who are even more involved in their respective sports are not influenced by sports betting culture. Their participation is hazardous to the sanctity of the game.

Billups and Rozier allegedly passed along non-public information to the three crime families. Their connection to inside information and their ability to fix games can directly lead to a compromised product.

The NBA has faced this problem before. Former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and altered his play for betting purposes and received a lifetime ban from the NBA for it in 2024.

Professional sports leagues need to combat the growing culture of sports betting for the safety of their product. However, they will not cut the cash cow that is sports betting.

The sports betting industry generated $13.7 billion in revenue in 2024, marking another record year for the industry. That trend is expected to continue.

Everyone involved in gambling is supposed to be getting rich, except the athletes we are betting on. There is a disproportionate situation where athletes do all the work and gamblers make all the money — unless the athlete partners with a sportsbook on one of their shows, continuing to blur the line of impartiality. 

Current and retired athletes have sponsorship deals with DraftKings, Prizepicks and Underdog. They promote gambling apps to a wide and easily influenced consumer base — giving their “expert” advice on which lines to bet.

How are we supposed to believe as consumers that these athletes, who have unprecedented access to private information, are the best vehicles to deliver sports betting sponsorships?

Athletes should not be heavily involved in the sports betting industry and culture; however, it would be unfair for them to be excluded. 

Hindering their earning potential while sports gamblers and sportsbooks rake in boatloads of cash off their labor will continue the disproportionate situation and open the leagues to more ridicule from concerned fans.

Sports betting has been a stain on the world of athletics for years. Billups’ and Rozier’s arrest indicate the culture around sports betting has gone too far. 

I already said we couldn’t go back, and nothing proves I was wrong. The sports community is in freefall from the top-down, and the root of it starts with sports betting.