Dave Hyde: A gambling world that sports leagues need to get under control

Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Oct 29, 2025

Published in Football

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lamar Jackson will start for the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins. Coach John Harbaugh said so, Jackson said so and — here’s the relevant news — the Ravens’ injury report confirmed it Tuesday in listing Jackson as “Full Practice.”

Under normal circumstances, any Dolphins fan would give a why-us shrug and, more to the point, bettors would wager accordingly. But circumstances were not normal last week, when the Ravens’ injury report and the arrest of three NBA figures on gambling charges created a sky-is-falling theme in the sports world.

This was inevitable, right? A sports world that didn’t just invite gambling into games but handed it a drink and sat it in the owners’ suite had a scandal. But you can hold two opposing thoughts about all this:

— 1.This NBA gambling scandal wouldn’t crack anyone’s list of top sports-betting scandals since there was no game-fixing involved, like with NBA referee Terry Donaghy in 2007, baseball manager Pete Rose, the 1951 point-shaving at New York universities or the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

— 2. Every league needs to be smarter in handling information, especially involving injuries, because that’s what gamblers want and where players can get in trouble.

Every player knows what’s happening in sports. How can they not? A former Dolphins player talked of getting a notice from a bettor who won $30,000 on a prop bet of the player’s game stats. Each anniversary, he’d send thanks again.

No one invited sports gambling into its game more than NBA commissioner Adam Silver. He spoke publicly about it for years, wrote columns about it and asked when other commissioners remained silent on the subject why sports were still living in the 1950s when there were billions of new money to be had.

It was a fair question — a profitable one, too. Look around. You’re assaulted with gambling ads at games, on TV and websites and the annoying oddsmaker is part of every show.

But if sports leagues want to be hip-deep in gambling, they have to become fully transparent on things like injury information, too.

That wouldn’t solve everything. Arrested Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is accused of pulling himself out of a game while playing for Charlotte to win a prop bet of “unders.” The alleged scheme was detected because it was a legal bet. What if it was done with an illegal bookie, though?

The arrest of NBA coach Chauncey Billups for his alleged inclusion in mafia-fixed poker games isn’t primarily a basketball issue, unless there is evidence the mafia had hooks into Billups in other ways. That FBI says it is investigating the matter further

Damon Jones being arrested for leaking information of players game status while with the Cleveland Cavaliers is what needs correcting by sports leagues. Teams traditionally have held such information as a competitive edge. That can’t work anymore.

Teams should report when they know a player is out for a game. The regular “maintenance” games off should be reported a day earlier in a way team owners won’t like. Knowing a star or two won’t play will affect ticket sales. That’s the cost in today’s age.

The Ravens proved that last week how valued this information is. Jackson had missed two games and was listed as “limited” last Wednesday and Thursday before a game against Chicago. That suggested he wouldn’t play against Chicago.

Jackson was then upgraded to a “full” participation on Friday to suggest he would start. Baltimore was listed as a 7 1/2-point favorite in Vegas when it looked like Jackson would play. Baltimore, realizing their error, on Saturday retroactively changed Jackson’s status on Friday back to, “Limited.”

Baltimore was a 2 1/2-point favorite at kickoff.

The NFL is looking into the matter with a hefty fine or even loss of a draft pick being floated as penalties. The NBA sent a memo to teams saying it has, “begun a process of reviewing league policies regarding injury reporting, the training and education of all NBA personnel and the safety measure for NBA players.”

Here’s a new title coming to sports teams: Director of Gambling.

Every team will have one to oversee their operation. It’s easy to make the billions off gambling. But to keep everyone in the organization away from gambling? And keep the team from errors like Baltimore made?

Jackson will start Thursday night. Bet on it.

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