As sports betting continues to assimilate itself into the sports media space, questions surrounding the ethics around gambling for media professionals are continuing to be asked. League insiders such as Adrian Wojnarowski, Shams Charania and Adam Schefter are privy to information before it is released to the public, wherefore their decisions would not be seen as objective per se; that is, according to on-air host Dan Le Batard.
On Thursday’s edition of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Le Batard began a discussion about the relationship between gambling and journalism. As a former member of ESPN, Le Batard has seen the launch of ESPN BET, a company-branded betting platform being operated by PENN Entertainment in 17 different states around the country.
Mandating that a large swath of people cannot bet on sporting events can be difficult to enforce because some people are more apt to break rules and engage in the practices regardless. For example, news of LeBron James’ business manager, Maverick Carter, admitting to using an illegal bookie to bet on basketball and football games in a federal investigation in 2021 was reported last week by The Washington Post.
“The integrity of the results – even though we’re talking about the refs every day and they have a disproportionate impact on the games – the integrity of the results have to be something you trust,” Dan Le Batard said. “Ultimately – and this is weird for gambling to have been in the shadows and illegal and shamed for a long time – you have to trust that nobody has insider information that’s illegal to have gathered, and so you have to spread a blanket around a lot of employees.”
Jeremy Tache added to the conversation, saying that an interesting aspect related to the entire ordeal is how Wojnarowski and Charania do not share social media posts affirming that a player is about to be selected in the NBA Draft. Instead, they use more vague, ambiguous language that implies that the pick is likely, but far from a guarantee.
Charania moved betting lines last year when he posted on Twitter that Scoot Henderson was “gaining serious momentum” at No. 2 with the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA Draft. In the end, the Hornets drafted Brandon Miller, allowing the Portland Trail Blazers to take Henderson third overall. “FanDuel is not privy to any news that Shams breaks on his platforms,” the company said in a statement to Action Network after backlash.
“That ultimately can heavily influence the way that people are gambling because the lines don’t change instantly on who’s going to go to what time,” Tache said. “That’s the stuff where we saw ESPN sort of institute, ‘Hey Woj, you can’t tweet out draft picks before they’re actually made,’ but I wonder how much that actually had to do with gambling more so than even spoiling the draft for people.”
The reason Le Batard started the conversation was because of Meadowlark Media’s content and distribution deal with DraftKings Network. Matt Barnes’ and Stephen Jackson’s All The Smoke Productions recently inked a contract with the two entities as well, bringing their popular podcast, All The Smoke, and other programming to the platform. Le Batard’s program is also now available to watch using the new Bleacher Report Sports Add-On through Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max streaming service.
“There are so many impeachments on integrity that can come from so many angles,” Le Batard said. “Never mind just referees; it’s everybody now. We’re all in this changing game [where] something that has been stigmatized is now legalized, and we all play by a set of rules that are different for me [and] that are different for you.”
Mike Ryan Ruiz, producer of the program, argued that regulation pertaining to sports gambling is a good thing, conveying how several leagues themselves have demarcated the behavior. The NFL has issued suspensions to players for gambling, along with college football – perhaps most noticeably surrounding the Iowa and Iowa State sports betting scandal. The action of wagering on games has seamlessly assimilated into a penchant for sports fans, and more advertising and convenience projects the industry to further boost these companies.
Determining how to keep the objectivity of journalism and subjectivity of wagering disparate is an ostensible reason why employees at media outlets are limited in these practices. Moreover, Dan Le Batard insinuated that an athlete could do a friend favors by prioritizing how they play for monetary gain, something Ruiz pointed out has been happening all over Europe and that the sports world is dealing with.
“Yes, it’s more accessible now, but gambling scandals are as old as sports are – be it Black Sox; be it Pete Rose,” Ruiz said. “This is something that sports have always had to navigate, and it’s actually easier now with their league partners playing ball with them.”
