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Several gambling scandals have made headlines in the sports world in recent weeks and months.
On Tuesday, longtime NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the subject in a wide-ranging interview. The league recently entered into a partnership with leading prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket.
Bettman argued that harmony between prediction markets and sports betting allows the NHL to have better oversight and, ultimately, more power to “cancel any contract that we don’t deem appropriate.”
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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman speaks to the media before the game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. (Marc DesRosiers/Imagn Images)
Although no current NHL players or coaches have been implicated in the recent scandals that have rocked the NBA and MLB, Bettman believes professional hockey’s top league is able to avoid similar problems.
“I don’t think our game is sensitive like others might be…you can’t really get away with that kind of cheating anymore,” Bettman told CNBC.
In early November, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz and All-Star pitcher Emmanuel Clase were targets of the investigation and both face charges in connection with the alleged scheme.
Emmanuel Clase, left, and Luis Ortiz, were indicted in a federal gambling investigation on November 9, 2025. (IMAGINE)
The pitchers face charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to corruptly influence sports competitions and money laundering. Both pitchers have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Furthermore, last month, the NBA was rocked by a massive investigation into betting. Dozens of people with ties to the league, including a current head coach, were arrested on October 23.
Despite Bettman’s assertion that the league he oversees is currently not limited in its potential exposure to problem gambling, a look back reveals the complicated history of the league and betting.
NHL logos are seen on the windows of the Delta Center on April 19, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
In 2003, Jaromir Jagr reflected on the decisions he made that resulted in betting losses at an online gambling site of up to $500,000. Jagr spent more than a quarter of a century in the NHL, playing for nine franchises. He last appeared in an NHL game with the Calgary Flames during the 2017-18 season.
Although he admitted to missteps, Jagr insisted he did not engage in illegal gambling activities.
“It was 1998 and I made some mistakes,” Jagr, who played for the Washington Capitals at the time, told reporters. “I just wasn’t smart. It was stupid. It wasn’t illegal, and it was five years ago. It was all settled in 1999. That’s all I can tell you.”
Several decades before Jagr took the ice, Don Gallinger was at the center of a high-profile gambling scandal. The NHL suspended Gallinger indefinitely in 1948 after an investigation determined he had bet on Boston Bruins games. Billy Taylor, Gallinger’s teammate at the time, was also punished.
