Pro sports feels harsh spotlight of gambling scandals, now visible in legal market

Well-paid athletes shouldn't be likely to run into trouble with gambling, right?

Tell that to Shohei Ohtani, the MLBsuperstar with a $700-million US contract, whose former interpreter stands accused of illicitly taking over $16 millionUSfrom the ballplayer's bank account allegedly to pay off his own gambling debts. U.S. authorities sayOhtani didn'tknow about the activities.

The NHL's Shane Pinto, meanwhile, saw hishockeyseason and his $775,000 USsalarycut in half, due to a gambling-related suspensionfor the Ottawa Senators forward, though there was no evidence found that he'd bet on NHL games.

There's also Jontay Porter, until recently aToronto Raptors player, who reportedly bankedmore than $2 million USin earningsduring a short pro career that has come to a crashing halt. He's now banned for life from the league, after aninvestigation determined that he had beton NBAgames and limited his time on the court on at least one occasionfor betting purposes.

WATCH | A lifetime ban for Jontay Porter:

Raptor Jontay Porter banned for life from NBA over betting violation

6 months ago

Duration 2:39

Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been banned for life from the NBA after violating the league's gambling rules. Investigators found Porter shared his health status and limited his playing time for betting purposes, and also placed bets on at least 13 NBA games using another individual's online account.

With top-tier pro leaguesdealing with amounting series of gambling-related scandals, it raises the question of what, if anything, can be done to limit future episodes of this nature.

Jeremy Luke, president and CEO of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), isn't surprised at what has occurred.Andhe expects to see more of the same, unless sports organizations and authoritiestake steps to educate players about gambling-related risks and to ensure relevant policies are in place to prevent competitive manipulation andmatch-fixing.

"Until we do that, I think this could be the tip of the iceberg," said Luke, who believesCanada has been slow to see the full risks that gambling can pose for athletes, at various levels of competition.

Big money, big growth

Sports gambling wasn't broadly legal in much of Canada or the United States until relatively recently. Theindustry has grown rapidlyin the wake of these changes.

The U.S. Supreme Court opened the door for individual states to permit sports betting in 2018. Nearly 40 states now allow it.

Canada legalized single-event sports betting in August 2021, and, the following spring, Ontario was the first to launch a regulated sports betting program.

Ontario bettors are now placing billions of dollars in wagers on an annual basis though the full-court press on the promotional front for sports betting has led to pushback from sports fansand politicians alike.

Brian Masse, a New Democrat MP from southwestern Ontariowho advocated for thelegalization of sports betting, believes the advertisingneeds to be further tamped down, despite a tightening of regulations that has occurred.

"I find it absurd that they have commercials on about gambling during the actual game," said Masse, whose Windsor West ridingis home to a casino.

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Masse saysthe move to bring sports betting into a legal arena has potentially made scandals more visible to the public, as a part of a general culture shift.

Michael Naraine, an associate sports management professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., agrees:"These are the types of things that were obviously going to come to the forefront with a legal, regulated marketplace."

Research and education

But Naraine sees a need for the Ontario government to do more in particular, to allocate needed funding for research about sports gambling and education, too.

Jack Fazzari, a spokesperson for Ontario's attorney general, told CBC News that the provincial governmentrecently invested $9 million in the Responsible Internet Gambling Fund "to improve outreach and education campaigns on gambling."

Naraine said it's not just athletes who need to understand the risks associated with sports gambling, but also consumers including minors who will eventually be part of the next generation of gamblers.

Athletes, however, need specific guidance on what is definitely considered out of bounds.

Jim Brown, a sport-integrity executive at technology firm Sportradar, said via email that athletes need"continued, targeted education" covering "sports-betting rules and regulations, their personal responsibilities, and how to guard against match-fixing approaches."

Brown said data from the global sport world shows that "higher salaries for athletes act as a deterrent for match-fixing," though that doesn't mean high-level athletes are "immune" to it.

And while deep-pocketed leagues have the capacity to educate playersand to put preventative measures in place, he said these resources may be "lacking or non-existent" below the top levels of sport.

Stronger policy

The CCES's Luke concurs that having a legal market has allowed for some guardrails, butthe major money that sports gambling attracts and the promotional hype driving participation contribute to its risks.

This week, the CCESissued its first draft of a new program to prevent competition manipulation.The sports-integrity watchdog also wantsCanada to sign theCouncil of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions known as the Macolin Convention.

More than 30 European nations, as well as Australia and Monaco, have signed on to the treaty thataims to clamp down on match-fixing, and work to prevent it from occurring, via co-operation between authorities, sports leagues and gambling operators.

"Competition manipulation is a major threat to the integrity of sport worldwide. There is a direct link between sport betting and competition manipulation," Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough told CBC News in an emailed statement.

"The highest principle of sport is fair competition a standard that needs to be maintained at all times."

Qualtroughsaid Ottawa is "engaging on the international stage to address the threat of competition manipulation, and we hope to have more to share on that in the near future."

The minister alsosaidthe government is committedto working with the provinces, territories and stakeholders "to address the prevalence and promotion of illegal sport betting in Canada."