Gambling violations hit the NBA and MLB this year. How are the Olympics preparing for sports betting’s boom?

The $700 million man stood on the Dodger Stadium dais last December, a crisp, blue suit snug around his tall frame. Japanese two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani had recently signed his record deal to play for the storied baseball club, and he listened as Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis made the introductions of the other individuals onstage.

“ … Shohei’s interpreter, mostly Shohei’s best buddy, close friend, Ippei Mizuhara,” said Davis.

In the months that followed, however, Mizuhara went from being Ohtani’s “best friend” and confidant to a target in a massive federal investigation into an illegal gambling operation. Ultimately, Mizuhara, 39, entered into a plea deal with federal prosecutors, who accuse him of stealing nearly $17 million of Ohtani’s money to pay off gambling debts and signing a false tax return.

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But Mizuhara’s close association with Ohtani — that stretches back to when Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels before the 2018 season — dragged the star slugger-pitcher’s name into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and the scandal reintroduced the names of Pete Rose and the 1919 Black Sox, former players who committed baseball’s cardinal sin of gambling on the sport. (Ohtani, 30, was not charged in the case, and MLB cleared him of any wrongdoing in a separate investigation).

On the heels of Mizuhara’s arraignment earlier this spring, NBA player Jontay Porter and MLB player Tucupita Marcano received lifetime bans from their sport’s respective commissioners for gambling transgressions.

While a 2018 Supreme Court ruling paved the way for legalized sports betting in the U.S., it also has made for a more complicated sports landscape, as professional leagues have partnered with gaming companies like DraftKings and myriad of gambling opportunities exist to virtually anyone, at any age, with the touch of a smartphone. The Paris Olympics are underway, and it’s not at all unrealistic to wonder if the Summer (or Winter) Games could be the next sporting entity vulnerable to a gambling scandal.

“With the amount of money flowing into sports and the increasing accessibility of betting legally here in the U.S. and around the world through mobile apps and otherwise, it would be incredibly naive not to be worried and there is a need to remain vigilant in ensuring the integrity of competition is protected from this growing threat,” Travis Tygart, the chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, told The Inquirer.

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Sports doping, of course, is an issue that has tainted past Olympics, notably at the 1988 Seoul Games when Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for the powerful steroid, stanozolol, and was later stripped of his 100-meter dash gold medal; and at the 2000 Sydney Games, where American track and field star Marion Jones won five medals (three gold, two bronze) only to be stripped of all five years later after pleading guilty to lying to federal agents about her performance-enhancing drug use.

In turn, sports leagues, governing bodies and federations around the globe have worked to strengthen their drug-testing programs and penalties for violators in an attempt to eradicate drug use. The sports gambling issue, though, presents similar daunting challenges for sports officials — and without the benefit of a testing program to weed out the bad eggs.

“That’s one of the concerns I have with legalized gambling today — the addiction issue,” said Billy Walters, a professional gambler and entrepreneur whose gambling ties to pro golfer Phil Mickelson were included in Walters’ 2023 best-selling autobiography, “Gambler: Secrets From a Life at Risk.”

“Gambling is as addictive as drugs or alcohol,” Walters, 78, added. “Put yourself in the position of [Mizuhara]. You embezzle some money from a guy and lose it. Then it’s, ‘I’m gonna get caught. I’ve got to get even …’ And you never get even, and lose all that money.”

Walters said one way to try to prevent professional athletes from becoming entangled with gambling woes is for sports officials to have consistent communication with athletes about the inherent dangers involved with sports betting.

“Around the world, whatever it is, the NBA, the NFL, soccer leagues, whatever, I think they have a huge responsibility to interact with the athletes who play those sports,” said Walters. “They need to counsel them on a regular basis — what they’re risking not only to themselves and their teams by betting on sports, but to their careers. A lot of these athletes, they’re kids, they’re naive, and grew up playing video games.”

Outside the U.S., sports betting is legal in many countries around the globe — including in France — but spokespersons for both the International Olympic Committee and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee said there are ample resources and educational tools available to Olympians to make themselves aware of gambling and other issues that jeopardize integrity in sports.

“We make sport integrity training available to all members of the U.S. delegation in the lead up to the Games,” a USOPC spokeswoman wrote in an email. “This is a requirement of staff and also covered as part of Games Readiness training (Games education) for athletes.”

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The USOPC sports betting policy prohibits Olympic athletes from wagering — legally or illegally — on the Games throughout their duration, and it also prohibits Olympians from engaging in event manipulation, using inside information and accepting gifts or bribes.

“Athletes are at the heart of the Olympic Movement, and supporting them on and off the field of play is a key priority of the IOC. This includes education, testing, research, and logistics in the fight against doping, match-fixing, manipulation of competition and related corruption,” an IOC spokesperson wrote in an email. “Our Believe in Sport campaign led by Believe in Sports ambassadors provides educational tools and resources to help athletes make the right decisions to maintain the spirit and integrity of sport. This includes information on the problems that might occur from sports betting.”

Finland is one example of a country that has established an independent agency — FINCIS (Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports) — devoted to preserving clean competition in every aspect.

“For the future, it’s critical that at the global level and the national level, similar to the anti-doping structure, there are independent and effective rules combating match-fixing, that preventative measures are in place and that there is enforcement of the rules by conflict-free organizations to ensure all sporting competition is fair and honest,” said Tygart.

But what about Olympic events like fencing or the shot put? Those Olympic athletes might not be afforded the same financial opportunities outside the Games as their peers in glamour events like gymnastics or men’s and women’s soccer or basketball. A temptation like gambling might appeal to an athlete who is having trouble making ends meet, especially with all the different apps and enticements thrust at the gambling public.

“The IOC regularly offers numerous online sessions and training for the International Federations and National Olympic Committees, in the lead up to the Games and during the Games,” wrote the IOC spokesperson. “The Olympic Movement Unit on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competition is active not only for the Olympic Games (Summer, Winter, Youth) but throughout the Olympic cycle.”

Fay Vincent, the former baseball commissioner whose tenure coincided with Rose’s lifetime ban, said he feared a backlash in sports once the Supreme Court made its 2018 ruling. And Vincent thinks there are still gambling scandals to come.

“The real story is where are we going as a sports world? You can bet on what the next pitch is, how many homers [Aaron] Judge is going to hit in the next three days,” said Vincent. “Those performance bets are really lethal. Gamblers are saying, ‘Increase your profit,’ but what they really mean is increase your losses. Someone has to [go public], who has credibility, like Rose, and explain that if you get caught up in gambling, it will ruin your life.”