Film Room: Unpacking another sports betting scandal

New sports betting scandal hits college sports

On January 15, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced charges against 26 people in connection with an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme to fix NCAA Division I men’s basketball games and Chinese Basketball Association games.

The announcement includes the following information that is particularly relevant for the college athletics community: 

• Certain defendants “approached and communicated with NCAA basketball players, in person and through social media, text message communications, and cellular telephone calls, the indictment alleges, with the fixers offering the players bribe payments, usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game, to participate in the scheme.”
• “[F]ixers specifically targeted college players for whom the bribe payments would meaningfully supplement, or exceed, the student-athletes’ legitimate opportunities for ‘Name-Image-Likeness’ compensation.”
• “[F]ixers also generally targeted for their scheme players on teams that were underdogs in games and sought to have them fail to cover the spreads in those games,” and “[m]any of these players accepted the offers and agreed to help fix specific games so that the fixers would win their wagers.” 

The announcement also links to an indictment and criminal informations, detailing specific allegations. 

Earlier this month, LawInSport published our recent article addressing how participants in the sports betting ecosystem can apply national security lessons to combat insider betting threats. The article identifies practical frameworks for information classification, behavioral monitoring, and cultural changes that universities—and others in the ecosystem—can apply to shrink data and policy gaps. 

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