Sports betting has become an unmistakable part of the American sports landscape, and the latest federal indictments involving NBA figures have thrown this evolving relationship into sharp relief. Since the Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 decision to strike down the federal law barring sports betting in most states, the industry has exploded—both in terms of revenue and controversy. Now, with the recent arrests of Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, the uneasy alliance between professional sports and gambling faces its most serious test yet.
On October 23, 2025, federal authorities revealed details of a sprawling criminal investigation, code-named “Nothing but Bet,” charging six individuals—including current NBA player Terry Rozier and former NBA player and coach Damon Jones—with using inside information to place hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent sports bets. The indictment also touched on rigged poker games, bringing in Billups and Jones among dozens of others. It’s a scandal that not only involves high-profile names but also strikes at the heart of the trust fans place in their favorite sports.
This isn’t the first time the integrity of American sports has been challenged by gambling. In fact, the very law that once banned sports betting—the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992—was designed to prevent just these kinds of situations. Bill Bradley, the former New York Knicks player and U.S. senator who sponsored the law, reflected, “It was a bill that essentially recognized the role sports plays in individual people’s lives, and in communities’ lives, and how that role is important to preserve. And it cannot be preserved once the integrity of the game itself is compromised by betting—like this.”
Since the Supreme Court overturned that law in 2018, the change has been seismic. Major U.S. sports leagues, once wary of gambling, have embraced it, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars annually from partnerships with betting companies. Sportsbooks now operate inside stadiums, and star athletes like LeBron James—though not implicated in wrongdoing—are signed as “talent ambassadors” for gambling brands. Televised games are filled with prompts to bet, and for many fans, betting is as much a part of the experience as the game itself.
But the new normal has brought new risks. The current indictment alleges that Rozier, while playing for the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, told associates he would “prematurely” remove himself from a game, allowing them to place bets on his underperformance relative to oddsmakers’ lines. Other examples between 2022 and 2024 include the use of inside information about team lineups—one case reportedly involved the availability of LeBron James—to make fraudulent bets. The NBA stated, “We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and the integrity of our game remains our top priority.”
Sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings, the two largest in the U.S., have responded by emphasizing their technological tools to detect and report suspicious activity. A FanDuel spokesperson called the indictments “deeply disturbing,” adding they “should concern fans, athletes and everyone who loves sports and values integrity and fair play.” Both companies pledged continued cooperation with leagues to ensure games are not rigged. The NBA, for its part, works with a sports betting integrity firm that first flagged unusual activity related to Rozier in 2023.
Yet, the very structure of modern betting may be part of the problem. Prop bets—wagers on individual player performances or single-game events, not necessarily tied to the outcome—are particularly susceptible to manipulation. These bets have been aggressively promoted by sportsbooks and broadcasters alike, even as sports leaders such as NCAA president Charlie Baker and NBA commissioner Adam Silver voice concerns about their impact on integrity and the potential for player harassment. Microbets, wagers on outcomes resolved in seconds, have further increased the opportunities for manipulation.
Polling data shows that the American public is growing increasingly wary. A Pew Research Center poll from summer 2025 found that about 40% of U.S. adults believe legal sports betting is a bad thing for society and sports, up from one-third in July 2022. Even among those who placed bets in the past year, 34% now say legal sports betting is bad for society, a jump from 23% three years ago. Young men, in particular, have soured: about half of men under 30 now hold a negative view, up from just 22% in 2022.
Despite the growing skepticism, betting remains popular, especially among younger Americans. The Pew poll revealed that about 30% of adults under 30 have bet on sports in the past year, compared to only 12% of those 65 and older. Black and Hispanic adults are more likely than white or Asian adults to have placed a bet, though the gap is not enormous. And while 14% of adults say they frequently or occasionally bet online, about a quarter have wagered in person at casinos at least occasionally.
There’s a sharp distinction in public opinion between betting on professional and college sports. According to an AP-NORC poll from February 2025, about 60% of Americans support legal gambling on professional sports, but only 40% feel the same about college sports. More than half oppose betting on college games. A Quinnipiac poll from June 2025 found that 60% of adults believe legal betting on college sports is bad, while 47% say the same about professional sports betting.
The sports betting industry and its partners argue that legalization has made it easier to catch cheaters, thanks to sophisticated monitoring and data analysis. Indeed, the NBA’s integrity firm flagged the suspicious betting activity that led to the current investigation, and similar technology is being used in Major League Baseball, where ongoing probes focus on suspicious bets on individual pitches. Still, experts warn that it’s impossible to know how many instances of manipulation go undetected.
As the NBA and other leagues navigate this scandal, they face a fundamental question: Has the financial windfall from gambling partnerships come at too high a cost? Law professor Marc Edelman summed up the dilemma: “Team owners have made the calculation that the financial upside is worth the potential expected likely loss if some form of scandal were to come up. But who’s to say whether or not that’s a rational conclusion?”
For now, the investigations continue, and the sports world watches closely. The outcome could shape how leagues, lawmakers, and fans approach sports betting in the years ahead. One thing’s for sure: the integrity of the game—and the public’s faith in it—hangs in the balance.
