Astead Herndon

But I would only call myself a low-level sports bettor.

I've wagered small amounts, $20 here, $30 there, maybe $50 if I'm feeling crazy.

Increasingly, though, more and more sports fans are wagering a lot more than $50 and betting on every play within a game.

And that's led us to the age of the betting scandal.

Rozier's accused of purposely leaving a game with a phantom injury so that he and his co-conspirators, including his childhood friend, could make tens of thousands of dollars.

Has sports betting gone too far?

I'm Astead Herndon, and that's coming up on Today Explained from Vox.

Danny Font is the author of Everybody Loses, The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling.

So Danny, we've seen an uptick in sports betting scandals recently, but what's happened this week?

And an important part of at least this Major League Baseball betting scandal seems to be that they were betting on individual pitches, individual balls and strikes, and they were communicating about it in real time.

How unique is this to this moment?

We've had sports betting scandals before, but it seems as if you're saying this is unique to this time and this legalized sports betting industry.

You know, this might be an obvious question, but why exactly are these athletes, particularly active athletes, getting involved in these bets?

We're talking about multimillionaires.

It seems a little ridiculous.

You know, for me as a sports lover, as someone who enjoys the community of sports, it definitely feels as if betting, and particularly live betting, has changed the fan experience.

You can be places, and it will often seem as if folks' rooting interests are more closely aligned with, will there be a turnover, will the next pitch be more or less than 90 miles an hour, than whether a team is even winning or losing.

Is there any concern that the leagues have had about the ways that their close marriage to the sports betting industry has changed the viewing experience or changed the fan experience?

Yeah.

Playing to the audience.