Buckets of Cash

On May 14, 2018, the United States Supreme Court struck down the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which had previously established a federal ban on sports gambling. PASPA formerly restricted sports gambling to Nevada and a few states that had applied for exemptions before the act was passed. The Court’s ruling, known as Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, was immediately followed by widespread state-level legalization for recreational sports betting.

Eight years later, 39 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., have legalized some form of sports betting. In 2025, the sports betting industry generated a record $16.96 billion in revenue, an 11% increase from 2024. Even more shocking, U.S. sports betting and online gaming industries collectively spent $3.9 billion on marketing in 2025, placing gambling among the top five advertising categories on American television.

The rise of sports betting threatens the integrity, community, and human connection of sports, as profit supersedes connection and competition. Athletic organizations routinely uncover betting scandals, indicating that the United States must re-evaluate its approach to sports betting and implement new policies, or sports will lose America’s trust.

Although sports betting is broadly legal, professional athletic leagues have implemented regulations barring their own players, staff, and close associates from placing bets or altering their behavior in response to bets. For instance, the National Collegiate Athletic Association enforces a strict ban that prevents student-athletes, coaches, and athletic staff from betting on any sport the NCAA sponsors at any level. The NCAA uses a multi-tiered approach across collegiate sportsbooks, betting sites, and law enforcement to prevent and detect integrity concerns. Players themselves are monitored for behavior that indicates betting, including checking phones during the game or flaunting large amounts of cash on social media.

However, history has routinely shown that where there is money to be made, there are rules to be broken. For instance, before the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, millions of Americans, crime syndicates, and business owners systematically broke the law by manufacturing, smuggling, and selling alcohol. Prohibition was a significant failure because although manufacturing and selling alcohol was illegal, consuming it was not. Americans exploited this loophole, while organized crime and widespread corruption flourished as a result. A similar pattern appears in sports betting, where illegal activity persists.

In 2024, the National Basketball Association banned Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for disclosing sensitive information to bettors, altering his performance in at least one game, and betting on NBA games. Porter earned $21,965 in net winnings from 13 personal bets on NBA games through an associate’s account. NBA commissioner Adam Silver affirmed his intent to uphold the “integrity of the competition” despite egregious violations of the NBA’s gambling policy. Evidently, the NBA wants to protect the fan experience and the values on which the organization was founded. However, a troubling question arises when you compare Porter’s betting earnings to the $2,809,727 he made during his professional career. If professional accolades and large salaries are not enough to deter athletes from violating sports-betting rules, what is?

Regardless, such scandals are becoming more common.

In 2025, the NCAA revoked the eligibility of six players across several college institutions after an investigation found the student-athletes guilty of sports-betting violations. In June 2026, former NBA players Malik Beasley and Ed Davis were charged in connection with gambling schemes involving in-game performance.

Although players and staff sign contracts to follow the league’s rules, face internal investigations, and receive league-specific punishments, sports betting cases often enter federal territory, highlighting the lengths individuals will go to violate restrictions. Match-fixing, contract fraud, and extortion fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which also has a specialized unit called the Crime and Corruption in Sport and Gaming program to investigate sports gambling. The Department of Justice also handles arrests and criminal indictments. While robust enforcement is good, prevention should be the ultimate goal.

Beyond violating laws, these cases threaten the drama of fair competition in sports. Sports games are exhilarating precisely because the outcome cannot be predicted. Major upsets and wins are central to being a fan. When fans cannot trust that a fall, missed basket, or failed play is genuine, the reciprocal trust between fan and team is violated. Fans lose faith at every level: players, teams, and entire organizations.

America is already in a trust crisis. At the economic, political, and social levels, trust is becoming increasingly scarce. Low public confidence in the government to act appropriately is leaking into other areas of public life, including sports. For instance, NBC found that 70% of Americans believe that betting “lessens the integrity of the game.” The United Nations also states that sports corruption erodes public trust and diminishes engagement and support. At their core, sports inspire deep loyalty and dedication. Fans can spend their entire lives committed to one team. When trust is violated, fans’ sense of community is shaken, and the social fabric of camaraderie is torn.

Although sports organizations want to project an image of fair play, they also reap the financial rewards of encouraging betting. For example, although the NBA has strict consequences for athletes who bet, the organization made upwards of $160 million from sports betting. The issue with betting can be compared to a devilish bargain: these organizations can profit from betting while accepting the risk of scandals and rule violations. However troubling this may seem, athletic organizations do not seem likely to reject this money anytime soon. This is especially worrying because it affects fans, who are both victimized by the misconduct and play a role in the bargain itself.

Experts have argued that more than losing trust, athletic organizations can eventually lose entire fanbases. Passionate fans morph into fervent bettors, with less interest in sports itself than in gambling. For these viewers, there is no difference between watching American basketball and Chinese ping-pong as long as they make money. This trend is already apparent.

For instance, the NCAA has found that the rise in betting has adversely exposed young players to increased social and psychological abuse from frustrated bettors. In fact, the organization has launched its “Draw the Line” campaign to educate student-athletes about the risks of sports betting and combat online harassment and abuse from angry bettors. With the surveillance of modern-day sports, in which every movement of a player’s performance can be scrutinized, athletes, whether new to the sport or seasoned veterans, must navigate increasingly complex environments.

Sports betting implicates fans, who come to see players not as dedicated athletes but as sources of income. Sports become a spectacle of dehumanization with decreased passion and connection.

Beyond prosecuting individual players, the federal government and athletic organizations must reevaluate their relationship with sports betting platforms to ensure the sport and its players remain the top priority. Can the NBA tout the spirit of strict guidelines while partnering with sports betting platforms DraftKings and FanDuel? Can the federal government rely on enforcement alone when history has shown otherwise? Similar questions will only increase as the sports betting industry grows.

As sports betting becomes more prevalent in the United States, fandom is changing. Therefore, how American society approaches what it means to watch and support a sport must also change.

If increased corruption and online abuse are the price of sports betting, the cost to social health and shared identity is too high.

Hafeezat Ghaffar ’29 (hghaffar@college.harvard.edu) is comping the “Harvard Independent.”