Within the past few years, sports betting has gained a huge amount of popularity and has become almost mainstream. For better or for worse, it continues to grow in popularity, and the problems with it also grow.
According to Reuters, sports betting in the United States rose 23.6% in 2024, with Americans placing a total of $147.9 billion in sports bets. Many of us have an idea what a gambling addiction can do, and rest assured, that is the last thing any sports bettor wants happening to them.
While we are fully aware of the rise of sports betting and gambling addictions, what about when professional athletes collaborate to help bettors win money illegally? That is exactly what happened with Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase, as he appeared in court this past Thursday and pleaded not guilty to several charges of conspiracy, according to ABC News.
According to the FBI, both him and fellow pitcher Luis Ortiz had conspired with sports bettors, where the two would rig pitches they threw so the bettors won egregious amounts of money from these illegal wagers. Both pleaded not guilty and have been released on bond.
The total amount of money that the bettors received from the wagers was somewhere around $400,000. The real question for me that I would really like to know is: why?
Clase had been paid $4.5 million in 2025 as part of his greater five-year $20 million contract, while Ortiz’s salary was around $782,600.
As someone who will probably never see this amount of money ever in my life, I find it very humorous whenever athletes, such as the case here, make the worst choices possible and end up throwing their careers down the toilet.
I am sure that as the investigation goes on, there will probably be more information that fills in the context, such as whether the players and bettors knew each other extensively, as that could be the only reason someone would do something like this.
Ironically, this also coincides with separate investigations that are going on with both the NBA and UFC.
In the NBA investigation, 34 people were arrested for having conducted illegal poker games and rigged sports betting back on Oct. 25. Notable arrests from this include current Miami Heat player Terry Rozier, former Cleveland Cavalier Damon Jones, and current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers Chauncey Billups. Rozier and Billups have been put on administrative leave by the league.
For the UFC investigation, it involved Issac Dulgarian, who was a large betting favorite, losing to Yadier de Valle. The FBI became involved when multiple sportsbooks alerted the UFC that a significant number of bets had been placed on de Valle to win. Dulgarian was released from the promotion, pending investigation.
I think that the increased rate at which sports betting has become mainstream, coupled with the increasing number of scandals occurring shows that more of these incidents have a chance of occurring.
Nathan Eliopoulos can be contacted at
