Monthly Archives: July 2024

Criminal and banned betting activity in American sports leagues is already sounding alarm bells. But for all the problematicand mostly poorly regulatedactivity in the U.S., the next gambling bombshell could drop from our neighbor to the north.

Despite its relatively small population of 39 million, Canada is a big gambling nation. Canadians legally wager more than $20 billion a year on sports, according to the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. They spend another $10 billion with illegal bookies. Yet amid this thirst for sports betting, there are no laws on the books explicitly banning match-fixing, warn sports betting experts.

Take the case of Jontay Porter, the disgraced NBA journeyman who in July pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in connection to his involvement in an illegal betting scheme. Amazingly, Porters actionswhich included betting on his own games and sharing inside info with gamblersare not technically illegal in Canada, notes Declan Hill at the University of New Haven, the author of The Insiders Guide to Match-Fixing in Football.

The reason for this lack of governance is complicated. Section 209 of Canadas federal criminal code does state that cheating while playing a game, or betting with intent to defraud someone, are indictable offenses, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

But that archaic provision was written before the country legalized sports betting, says Danielle M. Bush, senior counsel at McCarthy Ttrault in Toronto. Canadian lawmakers need to pull their heads out of the sand and pass something more specific, she tells Front Office Sports.

Without a firm national policy or effective reporting mechanisms, Canada may be sleepwalking into a major point-shaving scandal. And looking north, match-fixing watchdogs, like Hill, are already at DEFCON 1. Even on July 1st [Canada Day], our national holiday, there was a [soccer match] we flagged as being highly suspicious in Canada. But theres nothing anyone can do, Hill, who is Canadian, tells FOS. Its open season for match-fixing up there.

Some guardrails are in place, yet theres already plenty of precedent of match-fixing, point-shaving, and bribery in Canada.

The federal government legalized single-game sports betting in August 2021. Mobile sports betting kicked in the following year. In the wake of those moves, the Canadian Football League banned its players from betting on games, wagering via proxies, or sharing inside information. This year, the CFL suspended defensive lineman Shawn Lemon of the Calgary Stampeders for betting on multiple league games in 21, including one of his own games.

Canada has also become a host for organized crime groups. In April, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police broke up an underground online sports betting network controlled by alleged Hells Angels enforcer Paris Christoforou. The ring operated five gaming houses in the Toronto area. Previously, the Ontario Provincial Province busted a Hells Angelscontrolled betting ring in 2019 that included illegal sports betting and online gaming websites offering gamblers as much as $20,000 in credit.

In 2012, CBC News reported a European organized crime syndicate bribed Canadian soccer players to fix a game. For years, the semipro Canadian Soccer League has been rumored to be a hotspot of match-fixing and corruption, according to the Toronto Star; one Chinese Malaysian bookie who ran his own illegal gambling site said to the papers reporter, You are supposed to be honest people. How can you be honest when so many fixed soccer games are going on in your country?

Match-fixing is a coming tsunami that threatens both the integrity of beloved Canadian sports leagues like the NHL and CFL and the safety of players and coaches, according to a 2023 white paper by CCES and McLaren Global Sports Solutions. Competition manipulationor match-fixingis rising at an alarming rate globally, and Canada is not immune to this threat, warned MGSS chief executive officer Richard McLaren. Both regulated and illegal betting markets are being exploited by bad actors and criminal organizations, who often prey on vulnerable athletes in the process. Several Canadian sports have been shown to be at heightened risk and can be influenced from abroad, including offshore betting.

Despite growing legalization of sports wagering, match-fixing is a problem for global leagues, even when there are explicit bans in place.

This summer, an investigative team at Hills University of New Haven flagged matches played around the world, from May 31 to July 2, when bizarre odds movements triggered alarms. They included games in the U.S., Canada, Russia, China, and Brazil. This encompasses major sports such as tennis, and basketball as well as volleyball, cricket, and table tennis. And Hill warns the problem may be spilling into womens sports amid growing suspicions of illegal betting and corruption across these leagues.

There are tons of big events which are being fixed. Especially now, lately the trend is very huge events in e-sports as well, Hill writes on his Substack page. Because there is no punition. You can just fix and not get punished.

There is renewed urgency to make changes, says Bush, as Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. She tells FOS she would like to see something in place similar to the United Kingdoms Gambling Act of 2005. Canada would do well to pass a federal statute that closely hews to the U.K.s statute and to do so in time to deal with the World Cup games that will be hosted in Canada.

Organizations including CCES would also like to see some sort of national policy, too. They also want the Canadian government to sign the Macolin Convention, which aims to detect, prevent, and punish match-fixing.

Wherever it happens, match-fixing goes beyond crooked players making a few bucks. Instead, its a dagger aimed at the fan experience. If fans lose faith that games are legit, watch out, warns sports super-agent Leigh Steinberg.

Bad behavior by athletes doesnt kill professional sports. Theres been plenty of that, Steinberg told FOS. The only thing that could [hamper the popularity of sports] is the perception by fans that they were watching [professional] wrestling. That it is somehow scripted or predetermined or there were actions or facts going on the public wasnt aware of, and we have seen that happen.

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Canada Is Primed for the Next Big Sports Betting Scandal - Front Office Sports

The sports world has become synonymous with online betting throughout the last several years. You can't watch a single broadcast from the NFL to the MLB without odds, parlays, and futures markets being mentioned.

If you're able to get in on the action, the betting-related discussion can be entertaining at least. However, if you're living in one of the 12 states where sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings are still illegal, you're either tired of hearing about sports bets or frustrated that you can't get in on the fun.

Unfortunately, Missouri is one of the dozen states that outlaws online sportsbooks. Having said that, the Kansas City Chiefs are looking to do their best to help change that.

Following Friday's practice, Chiefs president Mark Donovan spoke with reporters about numerous topics, including sportsbooks in Missouri. According to team insider Matt Derrick, Donovan admitted that the Chiefs "will support voter initiative" to legalize online sports betting if it's on the state ballot at the November election.

Donovan added that he's "spent more time in Jefferson City on sports betting than any other issue" and that he was motivated to do so by St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., who's also been openly pro-legalization.

"Like the vast majority of Americans, [the Cardinals] support legalized and responsibly regulated sports betting as an exciting new way for fans to engage with their favorite teams and sports. We welcome and encourage the progress being made in Missouri."

It isn't shocking to know that the Chiefs and Royals both want in-state sports gambling legalized. Aside from the entertainment it brings to fans, online sports betting is a near-$11 billion-dollar industry, so the likes of Donovan and DeWitt (rightfully) see a plethora of dollar signs in their eyes.

In May, a coalition composed of Missouri's professional sports teams Chiefs, Cardinals, Current, Royals, City, and Blues submitted a petition to the state to add a sports betting initiative to November's ballot. The target for the petition was 180,000 signatures, however, the coalition nearly doubled that with over 340,000.

November is only four months away, so it won't be much longer before Missouri residents know if they can start downloading sportsbook apps.

In the meantime, the Chiefs are darlings among sportsbooks across the country. Not only is DraftKings favoring a ninth straight AFC West title for Kansas City (-230), but it's also favoring the defending champions to pull off the first-ever Super Bowl three-peat (+500).

More Chiefs news and rumors:

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Chiefs Getting Heavily Involved in Missouri Sports Betting Legalization Push - KC Kingdom

We all have our shameful vices. Mine is watching every single Detroit Tigers game. In less proud moments, this finds me hankering for airplane Wi-Fi so I can track the little circles on the MLB apps Gameday feed and fist-pump at every In play, run(s)or, lets be honest, sigh at every In play, out(s)of some series against the Diamondbacks in May. But more often, I get my fix the usual way: watching the teams games on the regional sports network Bally Sports Detroit. I could stop anytime, if I wanted to.

Sensing correctly the poor judgment of its core viewership, Bally Sports Detroit suggests during every game that I take up a new destructive habit: gambling. Baseball fans tuning into games on Bally Sports in states where sports betting is legalor Cubs games on Marquee, Nationals and Orioles games on MASN, or Red Sox games on NESNmight notice the broadcasts promote a three-bet same-game parlay each night. Same-game parlays allow bettors to combine separate wagers on a game, each one a leg of the parlay, into a bigger betthat requiresevery leg to win for a payout. In late 2022, an executive at FanDuel, the first U.S. sportsbook to offer parlays,told investorsthe parlay had become the company's dominant bet type, driving up odds to increase the structural margins of our business. (That is, players lose them much more often than straight bets.) Four of five FanDuel users had placed a same-game parlay bet that year.

I resent how numb I've grown to the sports gambling ad blitz; what once felt jarring and intrusive now sort of washes over me. But in late April, about 20 games into the Tigers' season, I snapped out of my apathy and wondered if a single dumb FanDuel parlay promoted on the broadcast had ever hit. This ended the way it does when you work at a place eager to turn staffers late-night musings into editorial assignments: I trawled the MLB TV archive of the first halfof the season(81 games broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit, from March 28 to June 30)to see whether my suspicion was correct.

The timing varies from broadcast to broadcast, but a Tigers fan is typically reminded to make every moment more with the FanDuel same-game parlay in the early innings of a game, often whenever the Tigers come up to bat in the third or fourth. A grim headshot triptych fills the screen, laying out the legs of the parlay, the current status of each, and the parlay's odds. The broadcast then revisits the parlay in the late inningstypically, I found, to disappointing results.

Nothings hitting yet, but with the top of the order coming up, if I were a betting man, Id feel good about my chances, said Johnny Kane, the networks slaphappy on-field reporter, during a parlay report in an April 6 game against Oakland. The top of the order came up, accomplished nothing, and the Tigers went on to lose, 4-0, to the As. None of the three legs hit.

Doing the actual math remained the focus of my project, but it was hard not to notice the broadcast teams dwindling enthusiasm for this segment. In the early days of the season, the ever-referential Tigers play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti alluded to a joke Norm Macdonald once told on Late Night with David Letterman. Watch itat the 5:30 mark here, or read the less charming transcription:

MACDONALD: I used to gamble a lot.

LETTERMAN: You dont gamble anymore?

MACDONALD: Dont gamble anymore.

LETTERMAN: Was it a problem? It get to be a problem?

MACDONALD: Yeah, it got to be a problem, man. Then I tried to do it smart. Every time I try to do it smart, a bad thing would happen.

LETTERMAN: What do you mean?

MACDONALD: Well, one time I was trying to handicap baseball, you know, you can actually beat baseball if you handicap it properly? So I was trying to handicap and I figured it out for like three hours and went down to the book at Mirage, a sportsbook. I went up to the fella, you know, and there was a guy beside me, big fat guyand hes dressed like real rich. He opened a big attach case filled with $10,000 chips, pulls out like $750,000, and hes gonna bet on this boxer. Boxer, you know? A fighter, you know?

LETTERMAN: Yeah.

MACDONALD: And it was a 4-to-1 underdog! So I said, Im not going to bet my baseball bet, Ill just bet on this 4-to-1 underdog. 'Cause this guy must know something. Hes probably in the mafia. So I go and watch this boxing match, Dave, and the guy,myguy that I bet on, gets knocked out in 25 seconds. So I go back to the book, I go, That guy! From the mafia! Wha He goes, That guys not from the mafia. He goes, Thats ol Longshot Louie. He's a rich guy, loves longshots.

LETTERMAN: Well, theres just no winning, is there?

MACDONALD: No, theres no winning. Nobody ever wins.

Indeed, no one was winning on April 14, when Benetti received a gloomy parlay update in a game against the Twins. We gotta give a phone call to Longshot Louie here, Benetti said. This turned into a running bit. Did get a hold of Longshot Louie earlier, Jason. He feels like the over 8.5 [runs] is going to be tough to get, Kane told him the following day, when the Tigers hosted the Rangers. (This parlay also did not hit.)

As the season went on, the FanDuel parlay updates were more often dismissed with a quick Thanks very much, Johnny. Benetti did crack one other joke in a May 7 game against the Guardians, asking Kane whether a same-game parlay that required four strikeouts from Kenta Maeda would still get a late-innings update; the starting pitcher had already been chased from the game with one strikeout in the third.

Tigers radio broadcaster Dan Dickerson, who does the television call when Benetti is on national broadcasting assignments, basically pretended not to hear these segments when he filled in:

The same-game parlay hits about as much as whoevers batting seventh in the Tigers lineup most nights. I counted an 11-70 record; the winners tended to have such high odds that they werent enough to recoup the losses. In a late April series against the Royals, the broadcast ended its 18-game parlay losing streak with back-to-back wins, one $10 bet to win $20.20 andanotherto win $14.60. Ahypothetical fan who made every moment more for the first 81 Bally Sports Detroit games of the season, $10 per bet, would have also made their wallet $383 lighter.

Elsewhere around MLB, there are other strategies. The same-game parlays are designed by each local broadcasts producers, and not by FanDuel, so the segments presentation can vary wildly. Watching a Red Sox-Reds game a few weeks ago, I simply had to tip my cap to an amazing Bally Sports Ohio parlay that would at least dig fans out of the seasons debt if it hit. The same-game parlay comprised: the game under 9 runs; an Elly De La Cruz home run; and a Ceddanne Rafaela RBI, at +5060, odds that the cowards at Bally Sports Detroit could only dream of. (This parlay didn't hit.)

While most broadcast copy includes the payout for a bet of $5 or $10, some broadcasts encourage fans to set their ambitions higher. The MASN pregame show for a Yankees-Orioles game in late April suggested a unit for that nights BetMGM same-game parlay, one involving Adley Rutschman total bases, Juan Soto total bases, and a Ryan OHearn RBI: $100 BET PAYS $875. Does it need to be said that the parlay didn't hit?

These broadcast integrations end up making rather poor advertisements for gambling. At worst, theyre undercut by the person doing the ad read: Colt Keith needs a hit, Javy needs a hit, Vierling needs an RBI. Who comes up with these things, you know? Maybe we should have [as] part of the prop bet Jack Flaherty strikeouts. But I just read what Im told, said Kane, providing an 0-fer update during an excellent Jack Flaherty start on May 30 against the Red Sox. At best, they sit awkwardly on the screen, an annoyance the TV booth wants to ignore. The broadcaster, the bettor, the Tigers fannobody ever wins.

Continue reading here:

How Often Would You Lose On 81 Tigers Same-Game Parlays Pushed By Bally Sports Detroit? - Defector

Two days before the opening ceremony, soccer kicks off at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The United States women are favored to win gold while the American men return to the Olympics for the first time since 2008 and open against the host French team on Wednesday.

The U.S. women start on Thursday against Zambia in what will be the first competitive match for coach Emma Hayes. Zambia won a match at the 2023 World Cup, claiming as many wins at that tournament as the U.S. women had, but is a massive underdog heading into Thursdays match. The USWNT is -2000 on BetMGM to win.

The American men are long shots to win gold in Paris, while France is the favorite. France is +225 on BetMGM to win gold, with the United States trailing behind at +2500 to claim the top medal. For the first match, France is an extremely strong favorite to win at -225 on BetMGM.

While Paris will host both gold medal matches, seven cities across France will host matches throughout the two tournaments.

All odds via BetMGMas of July 22.

USA

+175

Spain

+200

France

+500

Germany

+1400

Japan

+1700

Brazil

+1700

Australia

+2100

Canada

+2600

Colombia

+3400

Zambia

+9500

Nigeria

+9500

New Zealand

+11000

The U.S. women have completely dominated the Olympics. Since womens soccer was first added in 1996, the U.S. has medaled at six of the seven Olympics and won gold four times.

However, the worst two showings for the U.S. were at the last two Olympics. Couple that with the disappointing performance at last years World Cup, and the pressure is on the USWNT to have a strong showing in France.

This is a strong and deep field. Seven of the 12 teams made it to the knockout stage of the last World Cup. Its fair to question if the U.S. should even be favored in a field that includes reigning World Cup champion Spain and the host France.

Europe only has three spots, so some strong teams did not make it. England doesnt enter teams into the Olympics. All three European teams that the U.S. played, and failed to beat, at the last World Cup are not in France (Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden). Former gold medalist Norway didnt qualify either.

The U.S. is in a group with Germany and Australia in addition to Zambia. With the odd 12-team format, two of the three third-place teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. There is some forgiveness in group play.

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France

+225

Spain

+250

Argentina

+300

Morocco

+1200

Paraguay

+2500

Egypt

+2500

USA

+2500

Ukraine

+2800

Japan

+2800

Mali

+3300

Israel

+4000

Guinea

+5000

Uzbekistan

+6600

New Zealand

+10000

Iraq

+10000

Dominican Republic

+10000

Mens soccer at the Olympics is an under-23 tournament, with three overage players allowed on every roster. There are 16 teams in four groups, and the top two teams advance to the quarterfinals.

While the American women have had tons of success in the Olympics, the American men are the complete opposite. Not only did the U.S. fail to qualify for the last three Olympics, but the U.S. has never really medaled in mens soccer (unless you count 1904 when only three teams entered; two of them were American clubs, and neither of those two won gold).

For the U.S., Walker Zimmerman, Miles Robinson and Djordje Mihailovic are the older players who have some name recognition for those who follow the full mens national team. Zimmerman was a starter last World Cup, and Robinson was a first-choice center back at the 2021 Gold Cup before an Achilles injury prevented him from playing in the World Cup. That duo will likely anchor the American defense.

The U.S. is in a group with France, Guinea and New Zealand. France is -500 to win Group A, but the U.S. has the second-longest odds at +500, implying the U.S. is favored to finish second in the group and advance to the quarterfinals.

France has tons of expectations heading into this tournament. Thats true of any host nation, but France has been a talent machine for the last several years. Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace) are bigger names and overage players on a team managed by Thierry Henry.

Spain (+250) and Argentina (+300) are the other pre-tournament favorites before we start entering long-shot territory. Both nations just won continental tournaments this summer, but their Olympic squads are very different from those winning lineups. However, Argentinas Julin lvarez and Nicols Otamendi are on the Olympic squad after playing central roles in the Copa Amrica. Thiago Almada, recently transferred from Atlanta United, is also playing for Argentina.

lex Baena and Fermn Lpez were on Spains Euro 2024 squad and are set to play bigger roles during the Olympics. Neither started any matches at Euro 2024, and neither played at all in the knockout stage, but Baena made two substitute appearances in group play, and Lpez subbed on in one group match.

There are a lot of huge nations in the sport not at this tournament, including Brazil which won gold at the last two Olympics. European powers Germany, Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands also didnt qualify. England won the European qualifying tournament (the 2023 European Under-21 Championship) but does not compete in the Olympics because England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate national teams, all competing as Great Britain in the Olympics.

(Photo of Trinity Rodman and Lindsey Horan: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

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2024 Olympics soccer betting odds: U.S. women, French men favored to win gold - The New York Times

Kenneth C. Wilbur, professor of marketing and analytics at the Rady School and co-author of the study.

The research study goal is to provide credible evidence to help inform policymakers as they evaluate new rules or refine recent rules. Currently, some states are considering bills to legalize and others, like New York and Illinois, are also considering expanding legalized betting.

Study authors found gambling helpline calls did increase as gambling became legal in the 14 states analyzed, most notably in New York; however, suicides did not increase. The authors note that suicide data from the Center for Disease Control, while informative, has limitations in measuring gambling-related suicides. State coroners generally do not document gambling as a contributing factor in suicide records, likely because they do not observe decedents gambling activity.

We tried to collect as many relevant and comprehensive data sets as we could to help inform policy makers, Wilbur said. Given our results, a concern of legislators could be that while they see tax revenue rolling in and much of that spending is coming from the wealthier individuals i.e. whales. But, if you look more closely, the people experiencing the most gambling problems are likely to be the smaller-scale, lower-income gamblers, i.e., minnows. This might justify more spending on assistance for problem gamblers.

The research analyzed online casino gaming and online sports betting. Online sports betting revenue mostly follows football and basketball seasons, without a strong upward trend. However, all states that legalized online casino gaming show sustained upward trends in betting activity over the five-year time period.

The authors conclude that legalized gambling has both pros and cons. On the positive side, states can generate revenue, potentially reduce illegal gambling and make it easier for individuals to seek help for gambling problems, they write. On the downside, increased accessibility and participation can lead to higher rates of problematic gambling behavior.

Coauthors of the paper include Wayne J. Taylor of Southern Methodist University and Daniel M. McCarthy of the University of Maryland.

Read the full Online Gambling Policy Effects on Tax Revenue and Irresponsible Gambling study.

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Legalized Gambling Increases Irresponsible Betting Behavior, Especially Among Low-Income Populations - University of California San Diego

Paula Lavigne

Paula Lavigne

Adam Rittenberg

Adam Rittenberg

THE COMPUTER SCREEN showed hundreds of dots on a map, each one indicating a sports betting app in use. One cluster of dots caught the investigator's eye. He zoomed in and saw it was the athletic facilities at the University of Iowa.

The cluster was "one of those where once you see it, you can't unsee it," a source with knowledge of the map told ESPN.

The legal betting age in Iowa is 21, NCAA athletes and athletic staff aren't allowed to gamble on NCAA-sanctioned sports, and only athletes and athletic staff had access to the facility. A high volume of activity there could be "indicative of some form of potential fraud, ID theft or something," the source said.

In May 2023, Iowa law enforcement and prosecutors, noting data showing that sportsbooks rarely flag their own bettors, acted on what Brian Sanger, an agent of the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations, saw on that screen. The result was the nation's first major crackdown on college athletes and gambling since a 2018 Supreme Court decision paved the way for legalized sports betting. At least 35 athletes and team support staff from Iowa and Iowa State -- including football, baseball and basketball players, as well as wrestlers, notably several from Iowa's highly ranked team -- were charged criminally and/or lost all or part of their NCAA eligibility based on the information last year.

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Prosecutors secured guilty pleas in all of their misdemeanor cases, but the four cases involving felony charges were dismissed when the accused questioned whether Sanger legally used betting surveillance technology. (Another case was dismissed due to a technicality.) More than two dozen athletes then filed a federal lawsuit alleging law enforcement had violated their constitutional rights by using geofencing software "illegally, and without a warrant" to identify athletes who were betting on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Sanger declined ESPN's request for comment.

As the legal fallout continues, the Iowa case is poised to have national ramifications for how -- and whether -- law enforcement will be able to monitor and police illegal sports betting by athletes and how the NCAA may enforce its rules on gambling.

"It is literally an unregulated, almost completely unregulated, $2.5 billion industry," one law enforcement source said.

"There is nothing ensuring compliance except for the sportsbooks' pinky promise," another added. "There's no teeth."

A FanDuel representative declined to comment. A DraftKings spokesperson told ESPN in a statement that the company "works closely with state gaming regulators and believes they hold operators to high standards" and is "proud to have played a role in bringing to light instances of suspicious activity." (ESPN is a partner with Penn Entertainment, the operator of the ESPN BET sportsbook.)

Sportsbook industry executives who spoke on condition of anonymity said in an interview with ESPN that they are subject to multiple regulations, and it's up to legislators and regulators to decide if there should be more. Enforcement is "not entirely on the sportsbooks. It's an ecosystem," one said, noting that the NCAA also has an obligation to better educate its athletes.

The athletes and their attorneys, meanwhile, point to what they call a vast overreach of police powers in a case that cost some of them their athletic careers.

"All it takes is an illegal investigation for you to miss out on the rest of your dreams," former Iowa State running back Jirehl Brock said. "When your privacy was invaded and that's the way that it happened, it puts an asterisk on the fact that we were doing it."

ESPN spent four months reviewing emails and court filings in the case and interviewing multiple individuals close to the investigation, including attorneys, athletes, parents, school officials and Iowa criminal justice employees who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing lawsuit.

Throughout the reporting, a common thread was frustration: From law enforcement officials who feel powerless to police an exploding new industry they perceive as a threat to public health -- and that is largely left to police itself -- and from athletes who feel underinformed by their schools and persecuted by law enforcement they say operated outside its authority.

IOWA STATE STARTING quarterback Hunter Dekkers and defensive lineman Isaiah Lee were at a morning lift at the team's football facility on May 2, 2023, when they started getting calls to come home. State agents wanted to speak to them.

"I instantly started to panic and had every thought run through my mind," Dekkers said. "Like, what could it possibly be? Because I've never been in trouble before."

The same scene was playing out across Ames and Iowa City that morning as DCI agents questioned athletes from Iowa State and the University of Iowa about their sports betting activity. DCI agents even traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to knock on the door of Arland Bruce IV, a former Iowa receiver who had transferred to Oklahoma State four months earlier.

According to the athletes, DCI agents presented the investigation as a larger-scale probe into possible negligence involving the two major sportsbooks. The agents used terms like fraud and identity theft. They asked if anyone else had access to their cell phones, Dekkers and Lee said.

Lee said he told DCI agent Mark Ludwick that he would not speak to him if he was facing any individual consequences. "They told me that we were not in any trouble, that they don't want to get involved with the school and they didn't get involved with the NCAA," Lee said. "They said we were the small fish, compared to what they were actually going after."

But in early August, there were consequences. Dekkers and Bruce were charged with tampering with records, an aggravated misdemeanor. Brock, Lee, Iowa State wrestler Paniro Johnson and former Iowa State player Eyioma Uwazurike faced felony charges of identity theft in addition to tampering with records. Uwazurike, who was with the Denver Broncos at the time he was charged, was suspended by the NFL for violating gambling rules. Nineteen other athletes from Iowa, Iowa State and a community college, as well as an Iowa staff member, also faced misdemeanor charges. The gaming commission found no evidence that the players' wagers had affected the outcome of any games.

The current students also received punishment from the NCAA. Like all Division I athletes, they had signed an annual statement acknowledging NCAA rules, including not to bet on any NCAA-sanctioned sport at any level. Those who directly wagered on their sport would permanently lose eligibility.

Brock was accused of making four wagers on ISU football games, including two in which he played during the 2022 season. Lee allegedly bet on 12 ISU games in which he played, including a moneyline wager for Texas to beat the Cyclones in 2021. (Iowa State thumped the Longhorns 30-7.) Brock and Lee said they did not remember placing these bets and that they never saw a record of them.

Bruce's account, which was registered under the name of a relative who was of age, bet on 19 Iowa football games, including ones in which he played. But Bruce said he didn't place the wagers himself. He said friends used his account and he has screenshots of PayPal transactions from them that match the bets, although he declined to show them to ESPN. "I definitely knew not to bet on my games," he said.

His account placed a bet on the under on the total points scored in the Oct. 29, 2022 Iowa-Northwestern game, which was set at 37 at most sportsbooks. Bruce scored on a 23-yard touchdown run in the second half, giving the Hawkeyes a 33-7 lead, pushing the total over 37 points and causing the bet to lose.

Bruce said the friend who placed the bet gave him a hard time about it. "I don't care," Bruce said he jokingly responded. "We won the game. I scored a touchdown."

ESPN spoke to the friend Bruce said placed that bet, who said he remembered doing so and that he often used Bruce's account because he was underage as well.

Dekkers made approximately 366 bets on his mother's account totaling $2,799, including one $15 wager on ISU football to win a 2021 game against Oklahoma State in which he did not play. He was underage at the time.

Dekkers said he remembered making the other bets, but not the ISU one. When he saw it on his DraftKings betting log, he was "in complete disbelief," he said.

While the athletes said they knew sports betting was against NCAA rules, Dekkers said they "were just treating it like a video game."

Many said they recalled little discussion of gambling from athletic department officials before the state investigation. Bruce said he remembered ample warnings about the dos and don'ts of riding mopeds while he was at Iowa but gambling was mentioned only once at freshman orientation. "I've been at Iowa State since 2018, and it's always no longer than five, 10 minutes," Lee said.

Iowa State's athletics compliance packet includes a page headlined "Don't Bet On It," which outlines the rules. The school declined through a spokesperson to answer questions about its gambling education. An Iowa athletics spokesperson told ESPN in an email that the school sends athletes reminders about wagering policies around events like the Super Bowl and March Madness, and that it brought in two speakers, including a former New York mobster, to provide "sports wagering harm prevention education" for athletes, coaches and staff in 2019.

In a previous interview about educating athletes on gambling laws, Mark Hicks, the NCAA's managing director of enforcement, told ESPN the NCAA is considering the best ways to raise awareness on this issue.

"Student-athletes are coming into college. Many have already engaged in betting," he said. "It's just an ongoing conversation on how best do we educate and what methods and mechanisms do we use."

The case quickly became a warning at other programs: Virginia Tech's compliance department cites it early in a presentation given to students, and athletes at other colleges said the news did more to warn them about gambling than any admonishments they received at school.

"Mentally, there's nothing like it," Dekkers said. "To know that you worked every single day your whole life to play the sport that you're playing, to put so much time and effort into the sport, and then to get it taken away in one day, it's super hard."

Dekkers left campus the day after being charged. He has not been back to Ames.

FROM THE BEGINNING, Iowa law enforcement officials said they had wanted to send a message to athletes, schools and sportsbooks about the lack of enforcement of sports betting rules because of the potential for gambling addiction and athletes being compromised.

"The reason we did it is because we thought there was -- we know there is -- a real problem with this," one source close to the investigation said.

One agent, Christopher Adkins, wrote in an email to a colleague in February 2023 about his frustration with athletic departments.

"They will not report it to anyone until someone does something. They will do everything possible to keep it in house and sweep it under the rug," he wrote, adding that he investigated a reported sexual assault involving two Iowa football players years ago. "The athletic department was aware of it months before we found out. They tried to deal with it 'in house.'"

After years of proposing and advocating for changes in the state's sports wagering laws, law enforcement officials and prosecutors hoped an investigation could force the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, the state's regulatory body, to come down hard on the sportsbooks for not doing more to prevent and detect wagers from underage and impermissible bettors, sources told ESPN. Iowa state law requires sportsbooks to report suspicious or illegal wagering activities, including the use of false identification.

Another agent, Troy Nelson, emailed a commission administrator about using Kibana, a geofencing software provided by Canadian company GeoComply to "help curtail the fraud that we know is taking place all of the time but is not being reported by the sports operators."

Out of the almost 46 million online wagers in Iowa during 2021, the sportsbooks reported 21 suspicious wagers to the commission, according to an October 2022 email exchange among DCI agents. At that point in 2022, there were 55 reports, they noted -- an increase, but nowhere near what they believed was happening.

"When you look at the total wagers... it doesn't take much assessment to see that they aren't reporting suspicious wagering," Nelson wrote at the time.

Emails obtained from DCI and the gaming commission show that the commission was wary of giving DCI agents direct access to Kibana, but eventually went ahead in September 2022 after noting that GeoComply had a similar setup in other states and that the device numbers DCI could get from the software did not directly identify individuals.

Once DCI agents had obtained the device numbers from Kibana, everything else they obtained went through a court order: a subpoena to GeoComply that would show which dots corresponded with which sports betting apps, a subpoena to DraftKings and FanDuel for information on the account owners and betting activities, and search warrants for the phones used to place the bets.

DCI agents also found betting activity at local high schools, but decided not to pursue those because they didn't think they would get much from charging a bunch of juveniles, whose records are typically not public, sources told ESPN.

Law enforcement had several options for criminal charges against athletes. Many of them would be underage, and because of NCAA gambling rules, they were more likely to falsify their identity and/or use someone else's account. Due to the high-profile nature of the programs and the sports involved, there was potential for match-fixing (though none was ever found). Iowa and Iowa State both have controlled access to athletic facilities, making it less likely to nab nonathlete students or members of the public.

Adkins advocated for using the investigation as a warning.

"As far as the coaches, players, and managers are concerned, we don't necessarily have a crime on the books in Iowa, but I think it would be a good idea to report them to the University, the Big Ten and the NCAA," he wrote in an email. "If they get suspended or get a scholarship taken away, so be it."

The number of athletes affected by the investigation did go beyond those criminally charged. According to law enforcement sources, investigators shared a longer list of athletes and staff with schools to help identify the betting account holders. School investigators used the information to identify NCAA violations and several athletes were held out of games, suspended or lost their eligibility -- including 10 represented in the federal lawsuit. At least six staff members were dismissed or did not have their employment renewed.

"The schools needed to know," a law enforcement source said. "It arguably wasn't maybe our job to tell them, and that perhaps should have been coming from somewhere else. The coaches may not have really wanted to know. But compliance wanted to know. And ADs needed to know."

MOST OF THE athletes charged pleaded guilty to underage gambling. But the four facing felonies, including Lee and Brock, continued to fight the charges. By early 2024, the cases against them began to unravel.

Their attorneys zeroed in on agents' use of Kibana, the geofencing tool that allowed them to see betting activity on the map, arguing that DCI violated the athletes' civil rights because they did not obtain a warrant before using it. One of the athletes' attorneys, Van Plumb, told ESPN that Sanger, the initial investigator, conducted a "warrantless search" when he collected those data points with the intent to investigate them for possible criminal activity when he did not have specific information to suggest any one of the individuals had committed a crime.

"He definitely crossed the line," Plumb said.

In January 2024, defense attorneys released information showing that even people within the investigation -- including the state's top gaming regulator and another DCI agent -- criticized the tactics used.

Ludwick, the agent who interviewed Lee, said in a deposition that his superiors misled him into believing the sportsbooks were the true targets of the investigation. This prompted him to assure Lee that he wouldn't face any consequences if he told Ludwick about his online gambling, Ludwick said in the deposition, parts of which have been released in legal filings.

"He basically said in the deposition, 'If I knew what they were going to do to Isaiah, I would have never done it,'" Lee said. "Then he came up to me after the deposition and gave me a hug and shook my hand and said, 'I'm sorry for everything that happened to you.'"

In a public statement issued Jan. 31, the government stood by its actions and said it had acted in a "constitutionally permissible" manner.

"Prior to using the tools provided, the Department of Public Safety conferred with legal counsel to ensure lawful access to and use of the technology," the statement read.

On March 1, a Story County prosecutor dismissed the charges against Lee, Brock and the two other athletes facing felonies, citing an email from GeoComply announcing that it was revoking DCI's privileges after determining the agency "may have exceeded the intended and outlined scope" of its use of Kibana. Despite that decision, prosecutors in Johnson County continued with their final case, which was a misdemeanor plea from an Iowa men's basketball student manager.

Sources close to the investigation said the prosecutors' public statement was the first they'd heard of any concerns about their use of Kibana, and emails released in response to public records requests show no correspondence from Story County prosecutors questioning DCI's use. No one from the Story County attorney's office would respond to questions from ESPN.

No representative from GeoComply would answer ESPN's questions about the Iowa cases on the record. After the Iowa investigation, citing what it called "use of sensitive data without due process," GeoComply updated guidelines for using its data in investigations, which would apply to policing agencies in several states, according to documents obtained by ESPN.

In late April, 26 current and former athletes sued the state for civil rights violations, arguing that DCI infringed upon their Fourth Amendment rights protecting them from unreasonable searches and seizures by using Kibana to cast a net over the athletic facilities to detect their devices without first obtaining a search warrant. They argued the sportsbooks and the gaming commission were responsible for addressing impermissible bettors, not DCI.

The difference between whether DCI agents needed a warrant because they purposefully sought out athletes, or if they happened to notice the cluster while toying around with the software could be a factor in whether a court sees their actions as legal.

That's based on a provision that allows law enforcement to act on something they see "in plain view," according to Peter Crusco, a New York attorney and former prosecutor who is an expert on the Fourth Amendment. It applies if the officer is legally in a location where he observes the possible criminal activity, Crusco said, but the question is how that applies to a virtual environment.

The athletes' attorneys said Sanger initially found a cluster of sports betting activity in the freshman dorms -- with likely underage bettors -- but his superiors shot that down, according to what Sanger said during a deposition in January, portions of which were released in legal filings. Sanger then purposefully targeted the athletes at Iowa and Iowa State facilities, the attorneys argued.

Plumb said Sanger violated the athletes' rights when they obtained subpoenas for additional information, "because there was nothing that they did, nothing that they could point to, to suggest a crime was being committed." Opening the app triggers the geolocation point but it doesn't necessarily mean someone placed a bet.

The lack of a search warrant in that initial step set forth a false premise for investigators and prosecutors to get subpoenas to review the DraftKings and FanDuel accounts, the attorneys said.

"Then they use that one step further and come around and seize everybody's phones," said Des Moines attorney Matt Boles, who also represents the athletes. "The courts ... have specifically said that your cell phone is essentially the most private of all things that you have in your life. Your entire world is inside of your cell phone."

DCI agents noted in internal emails that anyone signing up for a sports betting app -- whether that person reads the fine print or not -- agrees to the terms of use, which states that DraftKings or FanDuel can share the user's information with law enforcement. ESPN reviewed those agreements going back to 2021 and confirmed the language exists.

Last Friday, in its motion to dismiss, the state noted that the FanDuel terms of use state, "You should consider the risks involved in disclosing your location information to other people."

The state's filing equated reviewing the location data to finding something in an "open field," for which they do not need a warrant. The state also argued that because the athletes were using other people's accounts, they could have no reasonable expectation of privacy, citing another court ruling that determined there is no "reasonable expectation of privacy in another's belongings." It also said that agents' use of Kibana was not invasive because they only collected data when the betting app was open.

The idea that the athletes' waived their rights after agreeing to the sports betting companies' terms of use is akin to what has been called "third-party doctrine," according to Crusco, and there is no Fourth Amendment protection.

"Nevertheless, the third-party doctrine is being closely scrutinized by the courts," Crusco wrote, adding that some states have higher standards. How a judge handles the case could have national repercussions as courts are asked to clearly define privacy protections "given the growing intrusive nature of evolving technology," Crusco wrote.

"Geofencing casts a huge net that corrals innocent individuals as well as suspects... [and] is contrary to the foundation of the Fourth Amendment," he wrote in an email, adding that a valid search would require a specific reason and a specific person suspected of committing a crime.

As they await a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, law enforcement sources said they are unable to proactively look for regulatory or criminal violations involving sports betting. This puts them back to relying on the industry to police itself, sources said.

"Match-fixing and fraud ... are just one temptation away," one source said.

As of last week, no sportsbook has been found in violation and fined because of the investigation, according to records from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

Sportsbook industry executives said even though they could take action above and beyond state requirements, they don't want to risk the liability of collecting all that personal information if state law doesn't mandate it.

When users sign up, they must attest to the accuracy of the information they provide and that they meet the requirements, such as being over 21. The sportsbook executives said it wasn't entirely on them to police that further.

"Someone who is attesting to that and checking that box is lying to us," one of them said. "It goes back to personal responsibility."

Instead of receiving public praise for trying to police what they consider a public health issue, DCI agents faced a backlash from fans, coaches and even legislators.

"We thought there was a problem that needed to be addressed," said one person involved in the investigation. "And what the public has told us is they're fine with it."

Efforts to change the law have largely stalled in the Iowa Legislature. When the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission tried to secure approval for a new set of rules for sportsbooks, crafted with input from DCI and the betting companies, lawmakers questioned DCI's role. "With all due respect to DCI, they've clearly screwed this issue up," Rep. Megan Jones said during a hearing in March. "So I guess I'm not sure how much we can lean on those in the know at DCI when it comes to sports gaming."

ESPN reached out to the office of Gov. Kim Reynolds, and the legislators who sponsored the original sports betting regulation bill, about possible new legislation but did not receive a response.

With gaming providing revenue to state coffers and lobbyists actively courting legislators, criminal justice officials aren't hopeful for major change. As one said, "They're not turning the money faucet off." In 2023, the industry generated more than $368 million in state and local taxes, according to the gaming commission.

ON THE NIGHT of Nov. 18, 2023, Brock and Lee made the familiar trip to Jack Trice Stadium for Iowa State's Senior Night game against Texas. Brock had spent most of the fall avoiding football, but he and Lee came to the final home game to support their classmates. They gathered with other fans outside the stadium for the Cyclone Spirit Walk, as players and coaches arrived.

"You've got all the coaches looking at me like ... I was a ghost or something," Lee said. "They would look and then look away fast. I felt awkward being there."

Brock and Lee were cleared of criminal charges, but their playing careers are over. Lee is now an assistant defensive line coach for Idaho State. Brock began working as a marketing administrator. He said he felt both relieved and hollow when his case was dismissed.

"We definitely got our punishment, just because of how it played out with the NCAA," Brock said. "So if we're getting punished for doing something illegal, [DCI] should as well, because I think what they did was a lot more illegal than what we did."

In early September, Dekkers pleaded guilty to underage gambling, admitting that he placed all bets linked to his mother's account, including the one on ISU football. He appealed his permanent loss of eligibility but was told by an attorney his chances were slim because of that bet.

He lost the appeal.

While Dekkers acknowledged his mistake, he questioned whether he received too heavy a punishment. "For me to think that one singular bet would take away three full years of eligibility is super hard," he said.

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Inside the historic, controversial Iowa gambling prosecution - ESPN

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