The Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports betting in 2018, opening the door for states to allow it. Massachusetts launched its first regulated sportsbooks on Jan. 31, 2023, at three in-person locations and online through six mobile betting apps. Regulators picked Super Bowl and March Madness dates for the debut, but the universe of legal Massachusetts sports betting will include everything from Australian rules football to volleyball. It will even feature a Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Officials must pass a thorough screening process to ensure that they are not affiliated with gambling or wagering operations. This is more than a simple background check, and involves a search of criminal charge(s) or conviction(s) for fraud, forgery, uttering, embezzlement or money laundering involving gambling or sports wagering. The information is used to assess whether the official is a risk and may lead to a disqualification.
Players and those working for a team or the league are prohibited from placing bets on NHL games. This rule is included in the league’s collective bargaining agreement and posted on every NHL dressing room wall.
The NHL’s policy on gambling also includes a clause that prohibits the seeking, offering or accepting of any bribe to fix a match or an event within a match. It also forbids the misuse of inside information that could be reasonably expected to affect betting. In 1919, Joseph Sullivan paid eight members of the Chicago White Sox (Oscar Felsch, Arnold Gandil, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Charles Risberg, George Weaver, and Claude Williams) around 10,000 dollars each to fix the World Series. The scandal would go down as one of the most notorious sports controversies in history.