The Dark Side of Sports Gambling

Sports gambling is a multi-billion dollar industry with companies getting into the online sports betting industry all the time. Some of the bigger sportsbook sites these days include Bodog, Ladbrokes, and Bet365 to name a few. With the explosion of the internet, online gambling, and even mobile gambling, sports betting will only increase in the coming years.

Unfortunately as long as there is betting or gambling of any kind, there will also be impropriety, or to put it less nicely, CHEATING. Humans are by nature competitive animals, often driving them to greed and behavior to achieve an competitive advantage, at times, in any way possible.

Let us now take a look at some of the infamous sports betting scandals in history.

Sports Betting Scandals
Black Sox: In 1919, members of the Chicago White Sox were caught accepting bribes to throw the Major League Baseball World Series, which they did, losing to the Cincinnati Reds. Eight members of the team were implicated and were banned from ever playing professional baseball again, including "Shoeless Joe" Jackson, the would-be recipient of the apocryphal words "say it ain't so, Joe!" This scandal was captured in the Hollywood movie "Eight Men Out". (The White Sox did not win a World Series for the next 86 years. Curse?)

Pete Rose: On September 11, 1985, Pete Rose broke baseball's all-time hits record by recording the 4,192nd hit of his career. Just four years later, on August 24, 1989, Rose was banned from Major League Baseball for allegedly betting on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds. A report by one of MLB's lawyers claimed that Rose wagered as much as $10,000 a day on games involving his own team. In 2004, Rose finally admitted to the charges but claimed that he only bet on his team to win. Critics responded by saying that he would not have been as motivated to win games which he did not bet on to which Rose said, "I didn't bet on my team four nights a week. I bet on my team to win every night..." he said. "I did everything in my power every night to win that game." Nevertheless, Rose is banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame due to his love of sports gambling.

The Murder of Andres Escobar: In 1994, in the FIFA World Cup, Columbian football player Andres Escobar accidentally scored an own-goal against his team in a 2-1 loss to the United States. Ten days later, Escobar was shot dead outside a bar. While not confirmed, it is widely believed that he was killed by the Columbian drug cartel as punishment for costing them their bets.

Tim Donaghy: In 2007, the FBI announced an investigation into National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy for betting on games, including ones which he officiated, and for making calls that affected the point spread. Donaghy pleaded guilty to federal charges and admitted to receiving $30,000 for giving inside information to bookies.

Surely there are many more sports betting scandals. These are only the culprits who got caught.