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Several gambling scandals have dominated headlines across the sports world in recent weeks and months.
On Tuesday, longtime NHL commissioner Gary Bettman touched on the topic during a wide-ranging interview. The league recently partnered with leading prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket.
Bettman argued that the harmony between prediction markets and sports betting positions the NHL to have better oversight and ultimately more power to “take down any contracts that we don’t think are 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 the top pro hockey league is positioned to avoid similar problems.
“I don’t think our game is susceptible in the way that some 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 the targets of the investigation, and the two are charged in the alleged scheme.
Emmanuel Clase, left, and Luis Ortiz, were indicted in a federal gambling investigation on Nov. 9, 2025. (IMAGIN)
The pitchers are charged with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sports competitions by bribery and money laundering. Both pitchers pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Also last month, the NBA was rocked by a widespread betting investigation. Dozens of people associated with the league, including a current head coach, were arrested on October 23.
Despite Bettman’s claim that the league he oversees is not currently limited in its potential problem gambling exposure, a look back reveals the complicated history the league and betting share.
NHL logos are seen on the Delta Center windows on April 19, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
In 2003, Jaromir Jagr reflected on the decisions he made that led to up to $500,000 in gambling losses through an online gambling site. Jagr spent more than a quarter century in the NHL, playing for nine franchises. He last appeared in an NHL game for the Calgary Flames in the 2017–18 season.
Despite admitting he made mistakes, Jagr insisted he did not engage in illegal gambling.
“It was 1998 and I made 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. Everything was taken care of in 1999. That’s all I can tell you.”
Several decades before Jagr ever 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 found he had bet on Boston Bruins games. Billy Taylor, Gallinger’s teammate at the time, also faced punishment.
