Betting is a part of the sports culture.
Who will be the next Jontay Porter? That question has to be on the minds of the commissioners of all North American major leagues and minor leagues as well as college sports poohbahs. In 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States legalized sports gambling and there is also legalized sports gambling in Canada. It was not too long ago that the National Football League was in court battling New Jersey after that state’s voters said yes to legalizing sports gambling in 2011. Sports organizations have embraced sports gambling as sports operators went after marketing partnership with casinos and players have the ability to partner with gambling companies.
The National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver announced on April 17th that Porter, a Toronto Raptors player, was banned for life for betting on games. Porter gave a sports bettor information about his health status ahead of a March 20th game and Porter altered his own actions in a game in order to help on a bet that someone had made. The NBA is not the only league that has had a player involved in betting. Major League Baseball had its gambling problem with one of its biggest names Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter. The National Football League has been suspending players because of sports gambling. On January 21st, the National Hockey League suspended Ottawa Senators player Shane Pinto for 41 games or a half of the season for gambling. Two golfers were suspended last fall for sports gambling. While that is going on, leagues have sports betting partnerships and that has extended to some teams having sportsbooks at the venue. Jontay Porter is just the latest who has run into sports betting problems, there will be others because sports gambling is embedded in the sports culture.
Shane Pinto
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