The legislative evidence delivered by big sports club commissioners on June 26, 1991, seems quite prophetic after a year in which an alleged co-conspirator of a banned NBA player was accused of wire scam for a betting scheme involving NBA games and Major League Baseball players were banned and suspended for betting on the sport.
In a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that dealt with legislation that would effectively outlaw sports betting, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, NBA Commissioner David Stern, and MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent were witnesses. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was passed into law by President George H. W. Bush the following year. PASPA made it illegal for 46 states ( Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana were excluded ) to authorize sports betting.

States and businesses interested in legalizing sports betting reacted strongly to PASPA. However, the commissioners urged lawmakers to consider how sports betting could compromise the integrity of games.
” We have to draw a line between sports and gambling”, Tagliabue, a former Georgetown University basketball player and high school hoops star, insisted at the time. ” If we break the line down, and if we have the state sanctioning gambling, then I think we run a very serious risk that the athlete, whether he’s young or old, will say it does n’t really matter. If I can do it at the 7- 11, if I can do it at the pharmacy, if I can do it at the grocery store, why not take the$ 50]as an inducement from gamblers ] that’s offered in the summer camp”?
Stern echoed this sentiment, claiming that sports gambling “inevitably carries with it the suspicion of fixing.” Every missed shot, turnover, and coaching error, according to him, will inevitably lead to speculation, suspicion, and accusations of game-fixing and point-shaving when a fan has bet money on a team.
Vincent was even more blunt, arguing that in a world with legalized sports betting, “athletes can become particular targets” of “underworld figures”. Some athletes, Vincent added, “may be supplied drugs in exchange for information or selective effort on the playing field”.
” Selective effort” is a fitting phrase a third of a century later.
Jontay Porter, an NBA player who was allegedly betting against his own team, the Toronto Raptors, is connected to a Long Island man who was detained last week for wire fraud before trying to use a one-way airline ticket to Australia.
U. S. Attorney Breon Peace accuses Long Phi Pham, 38, of conspiring with others, including Porter, to further a “brazen, illegal betting scheme that had a corrupting influence on two]NBA ] games and numerous bets”.
Prop bets, which are wagers on a player’s statistical performance, such as how many steals they will amass or how many minutes they play, were used to fund the scheme. When Porter was aware in advance that he “planned to withdraw from those games for purported health reasons,” the gambles were made about Porter’s performance.

The first game was the Jan. 26 matchup between the Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers. According to federal authorities, texts, phone calls, and wire transfers show Porter had “amassed significant gambling debts.” He was “encouraged” to clear those debts by pulling himself out of games. In a text, Porter allegedly wrote,” If I do n’t]go along with the plan] then it’s up. And u despise me, and if you do n’t get us 8k by Friday, you’re going to Toronto to beat me up.
In a Jan. 22 game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Porter sustained a “purported eye injury” that a doctor diagnosed as a corneal abrasion. He was not included on the injury list. Four days prior to the Clippers game, Porter allegedly confirmed in a group chat that he would remove himself early in the game.
Porter pulled himself out of the game after four minutes and claimed to have reaggravated the eye injury to Raptors officials. Federal authorities highlight that “video footage” of the game “neither shows any contact with]Porter’s ] eyes, nor any apparent reaggravation of the eye injury”. He would play for the Raptors against the Atlanta Hawks on January 28 and allegedly did n’t complain about the alleged injury after the game.
Before the Raptors ‘ Mar. 1 game against the Phoenix Suns. According to Porter, who was 20 years old, he allegedly informed team officials that he was ill and possibly having food poisoning. Additionally, he is accused of confirming in a group chat with Pham and others that he would pull himself out of the game by pretending to be sick. The group agreed that Porter and Pham would receive 4 % of the profits from prop bets placed in Atlantic City. Before pulling himself out for what he claimed was a disease, Porter played three minutes in the game. He played for the Raptors in the team’s Mar. 22 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Last month, the NBA permanently banned Porter. Porter and a known gambler were both determined by the league and shared private information about his health with them. If Porter is accurate, he basically behaved as if he were performing a script in a wrestling match where the winner is predetermined.
Last week, MLB dealt the same fate to third baseman Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres. When it became clear that he had placed nearly 400 bets on baseball between 2022 and 2023, the league forcibly banned him for life. Marcano allegedly placed bets on games that his team, Pittsburgh Pirates, was playing at the time, would play. Although Marcano is not charged with betting on games that he played, MLB regulations forbid betting on games on his own team. Additionally, the league suspended Oakland A’s pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers for one year for betting on MLB games. Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter and de facto personal manager, Ippei Mizuhara, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to sports betting- related bank and tax fraud charges and faces up to 33 years in prison.
The NFL is not exempt from recent sports betting controversies. In February, commissioner Roger Goodell estimated the league had disciplined 13 players and 25 league and team staffers for gambling violations.
The legalization of sports betting is obviously not a necessary component for players, coaches, referees, and other parties who have the power to influence what happens in games where wagers are placed. They could make use of a robust black market, including offshore investments that have existed for a long time. But with legalized sports betting, including through online and mobile wagering, it’s much easier and more secure to bet.
Since that Senate hearing in 1991, the position of the professional leagues has significantly changed.
Those leagues vigorously fought PASPA in court all the way up until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the law to be unconstitutional in 2018. The Court ruled in Murphy v. NCAA that when there was no accompanying federal standard, Congress could not compel states to halt sports betting. Since then, most states have legalized sports betting. As of this year, 38 states plus Washington D. C. and Puerto Rico have made it legal to bet on sports.
How professional leagues responded to their defeat in Murphy is the best example of accepting a loss, if there ever was. The leagues actively pursued partnerships with sportsbooks for marketing, data sharing, and other initiatives that explicitly promoted sports wagering. This has created a new pipeline worth billions of dollars for owners and players.
The days of commissioners preaching the vices of sports betting are over, but leagues still have rules that prohibit those connected to games from placing bets and draw from resources and expertise to enforce those rules. A commissioner who spoke in the same way as Tagliabue did in 1991 is impossible to imagine. The commissioner warned that “legalized sports gambling sends a regrettable message to our young people” that states and other beneficiaries “might as well legalize, sponsor, and promote any activity” to receive a” cut.”
Like any gambler, the leagues have made their bet. They’ll need to live with the consequences. Win or lose.