The scandals involving Raptors C Jontay Porter and Dodgers P/DH Shohei Ohtani are the “two biggest stories in North American sports right now"Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY NETWORK
The scandals involving Dodgers P/DH Shohei Ohtani and Raptors C Jontay Porter are the “two biggest stories in North American sports right now, and for good reason,” as "gambling cash seems to rule everything around us,” according to Jesse Campigotto of CBC.ca. The widespread legalization of sports betting in North America, "combined with incredibly easy access to it via smartphones, opened the floodgates for leagues to accept oceans of sponsorship money." These outfits are “desperate to attract new customers in an extremely competitive industry, and most leagues and teams will sell them anything” -- including “ads right on the court, ice or boards; on players' jerseys and helmets; and of course on the glorified billboard that is the Jumbotron.” Much of the sports media is "no better,” and in some ways, gambling ad money is “keeping the struggling industry afloat.” Fans can "hardly watch a game anymore without being bombarded with ads for betting apps, sponsored gambling lines in the ticker at the bottom of the screen and strained betting ‘content’ during studio segments" (CBC.ca, 3/26). In Toronto, Dave Feschuk wrote as quickly as North America’s big sports leagues have “wrapped their arms around lucrative betting partnerships of late,” they are “just as quickly finding out that the relationship comes with consequences for which they’re not fully prepared." Feschuk: “You don’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to suggest the growing prevalence of gambling has put the soul of pro sports very much under threat” (TORONTO STAR, 3/27).
DAMAGE INCOMING: In Toronto, Steve Simmons wrote the scandals are "absolutely expected -- and there will be more.” There also will be “damage to athletes, to the sports themselves, and to television networks that have tried to find a way to broadcast sports while, at the same time, advocating gambling on sports and trying to maintain some kind of uncomfortable distance.” The business of gambling “is fine,” but the "juxtaposition between gambling, professional athletes, team sports and the Big 4 major leagues is not fine.” The NBA is “fortunate that if this is its largest scandal to date," as it "features a player next to no one has heard of.” That “isn’t the story” in MLB right now where Commissioner Rob Manfred is “covering his eyes and ears and hoping the messy Shohei Ohtani story will just go away” (TORONTO SUN, 3/26).
SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE: The GLOBE & MAIL’s Cathal Kelly wrote it “doesn’t really matter” what the truth is in the case of Ohtani or Porter. What matters is that they “both look terrible” and stories like this have "begun landing with regularity.” These stories "chip at the foundation of professional sports," which is “all that separates baseball or hockey from Cirque du Soleil.” If people “start to suspect that what they are seeing is fixed, even fixed just a little, the sports-wagering industry starts coming apart at the seams.” Leagues are “so intertwined with gambling that any collapse on one side triggers one on the other.” To this point, leagues “have avoided making too many rules around the issue.” Pros "cannot bet their own sport, obviously," but “other sports are fine.” In most cases, "advertising for legal bookies is okay as well.” However, if sports “wants to protect itself from what’s coming, that must all go” (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/26).
GROWING PROBLEM: SPORTSNET’s Michael Grange wrote the NBA and Porter “have a problem.” If it turns out it was just Porter “trying to pull a fast one, he’s proven how easily NBA results can be manipulated to benefit bettors, which should be a red flag.” If it turns out that Porter was “somehow the victim of coercion by shady underworld types, well, the league might have a bigger issue on its hands.” And if it “ends up Porter turns out to be a 20-something with an itch to turn a quick buck,” the league “needs to tighten up its messaging against players gambling on NBA-adjacent events because it’s unlikely that Porter is the only player who might fit that profile.” Nothing the league can do "will likely curb the volume of fan-player interactions on the subject of gambling.” The league and players “certainly have a lot to gain by being so cozy with legalized sports betting.” But they “have a lot to lose if fans and gamblers alike can’t trust that the product on the floor represents a fair an honest competition” (SPORTSNET.ca, 3/26).
