McKay Coppins

And actually, it was two different interlocking gambling schemes.

One of them had to do with rigged high stakes poker games that involved allegedly the mafia.

And the other one had to do with NBA players allegedly rigging

outcomes in games to help gamblers.

So in one of the examples, Terry Rozier, who is an NBA player, he was playing for the Charlotte Hornets, was accused of tipping off associates that he would leave a game early with a foot injury so that gamblers could place more than $200,000 on under prop bets, basically saying he would score fewer points, make fewer rebounds, fewer assists, etc.,

And Terry Rozier wasn't alone.

The implicated people in this big revealed scheme included NBA players, a retired Hall of Fame point guard turned head coach, and several people in the mafia.

We should note that they pleaded not guilty.

But what was fascinating about that scandal was...

was that the reaction from the people I was talking to who are experts on the sports betting industry, gambling sports, were saying that they're convinced this is just the tip of the iceberg, that we are going to see much, much more in the coming months and years as sports betting continues to spread and grow in popularity.

It is a tightrope for sure.

I mean, it is fascinating to me that these sports leagues that were once so intent on maintaining a distance between themselves and gambling are now embracing it so fully that that they almost have no ability to meaningfully crack down on it.

Right.

I mean, when scandals like this come out, you hear the league commissioners say all the right things.

They say, you know, we're going to continue to root these things out.

Right.

We have a zero-tolerance policy, etc., etc.

But the nature of their relationship with the sportsbooks means that they are inherently conflicted.

And that's true of sports media as well.

The sports media outlets that should be acting as watchdogs on this issue in particular are taking millions and millions of dollars from –