A sweeping gambling probe has resulted in the arrests of NBA player Terry Rozier, former player Damon Jones and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.<\/p>\n
Two indictments unsealed Thursday allege separate schemes in which the defendants sought to defraud gamblers and online betting platforms out of millions of dollars. In announcing the arrests, FBI Director Kash Patel said the level of fraud \u201cis mind-boggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
With gambling scandals erupting across both professional and collegiate sports, Northeastern University experts say the dangers long feared by league commissioners are starting to come true: that a wave of addiction and corruption \u2014 powered by instant betting apps, ineffective regulation and the leagues themselves \u2014 is now crashing down on the sports world.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark Gottlieb<\/a>, executive director of Northeastern\u2019s Public Health Advocacy Institute, says the \u201cshocking arrests\u201d could be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of those involved in pro sports, and the ways they are harming \u201cnot only individuals in sports but the integrity of the games themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are tens of billions of dollars that are being invested in rapidly expanding the role of gambling in our society with one goal in mind: to dramatically increase public losses and shift wealth from the public to these corporations and their partners,\u201d Gottlieb says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Richard Daynard<\/a>, a Northeastern law professor, says the arrests serve as \u201canother reminder\u201d that gambling is \u201cinfecting sports at every level.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOnline sports betting is essential casino gambling,\u201d Daynard says. \u201cIt\u2019s created this huge new group of people who are addicted to a product that never existed before.\u201d<\/p>\n He and Gottlieb warn that the expansion of sports gambling is occurring against the backdrop of tepid state regulations and almost no federal oversight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Proposed legislation, such as the SAFE Bet Act<\/a>, seeks to curb in-game betting and the use of \u201cAI targeting,\u201d which experts say accelerates addictive behavior by tailoring bets to individual users in real time.<\/p>\n But Gottlieb says that comprehensive reform at the federal level is stalling due to a combination of gridlock, industry resistance and differing legislative priorities.<\/p>\n At the same time, \u201clegally dubious\u201d prediction markets are proliferating with minimal oversight, allowing major sportsbooks to offer bets on nearly anything, Gottlieb says. Even professional leagues, such as the NHL, are signing data deals with these platforms, further fueling the reach of high-risk gambling products, he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the NHL struck a data licensing agreement with prediction market leaders Kalshi and Polymarket, opening the door for users as young as 18 to place bets \u201con nearly anything,\u201d including sports, Gottlieb says.<\/p>\n So, what kind of guardrails are there currently?<\/p>\n Daynard says, simply, \u201cthere are none.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hot air being blown; there\u2019s a lot of smoke and mirrors suggesting that there are regulations,\u201d Daynard says. \u201cThere are supposedly regulatory authorities, such as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, but they don\u2019t regulate.\u201d<\/p>\n Daynard says there are instead two types of what he calls \u201cpseudo-regulations.\u201d The first is such entities as state commissions that he says have \u201cneither the authority nor, for the most part, interest\u201d in crafting and promulgating effective regulations; the other is something called the \u201cresponsible gaming model,\u201d a framework born out of the gambling industry\u2019s own efforts to preempt stricter oversight by promoting self-regulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea of responsible gaming is: it\u2019s just to the gambler to gamble responsibly,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you have a problem, it\u2019s your problem. You\u2019re gambling irresponsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n Prevailing attitudes about the problem are \u201cruining lives, harming public health, contributing to a mental health crisis, and driving the addictification of the U.S. economy,\u201d Gottlieb says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main problem isn\u2019t so much the influence of the gambling industry, but rather the fact that it hasn\u2019t been a priority issue for any legislature, state or federal,\u201d Daynard says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur hope is that, in about two weeks, that\u2019s about to change,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when Daynard, Gottlieb and Harry Levant, a gambling addiction counselor who recently received his doctorate at Northeastern, plan to meet with federal lawmakers in Washington, D.C., for the launch of \u201cFamily and Friends of Gamblers.\u201d The group is a nonprofit designed to give voice to \u201ccountless people and families suffering gambling-related harm.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Daynard says the nonprofit is modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Lawmakers, advocates and family members are expected to attend the event.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is likely to produce substantial change, and that\u2019s because you\u2019re going to start to hear stories that are going to appear in local media, online and in newspapers,\u201d Daynard says. \u201cWe hope these stories will start to turn things around.\u201d<\/p>\n Tanner Stening is an assistant news editor at Northeastern Global News. Email him at t.stening@northeastern.edu. Follow him on X\/Twitter @tstening90<\/a>.<\/p>\n