A Year of Scandals
The 2025 sports betting landscape was defined by federal investigations that reached into NBA locker rooms, MLB bullpens, and college basketball programs. The fallout is now reshaping how prop bets are offered, with leagues pushing for restrictions and regulators weighing new limits heading into 2026.
For bettors, these changes could fundamentally alter the betting menu. Understanding what happened and what’s coming matters for anyone who builds parlays around player props.
The NBA Probe
On October 23, 2025, three days into the NBA season, federal prosecutors unsealed charges that sent shockwaves through the league. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones were arrested in connection to investigations codenamed “Operation Nothing But Net” and “Operation Royal Flush.”
The allegations included an illegal sports betting scheme and a Mafia-connected rigged poker ring. Prosecutors described it as one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since the spread of legal sports betting. Rozier allegedly provided insider information to co-conspirators for gambling purposes. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty, with hearings scheduled for early 2026.
The arrests followed the 2024 lifetime ban of former two-way player Jontay Porter for gambling-related infractions, including providing inside information about his own playing status.
The MLB Scandal
In November 2025, Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted on charges of manipulating pitches to fix prop bets. According to prosecutors, the star closer and rookie starter worked with gamblers to rig specific pitching outcomes during games in the 2023 and 2025 seasons.
The scheme exploited micro-prop bets on individual pitches. In one alleged instance, Clase threw a deliberately slower pitch while an associate placed a live bet that his next pitch would be below a specific speed threshold. The wager paid out approximately $11,000. Both pitchers have pleaded not guilty.
The MLB case highlighted the vulnerability of granular prop bets that can be controlled by a single player on a single play.
The College Basketball Investigation
The NCAA and federal investigators launched a probe into potential gambling violations involving at least 30 current and former Division I basketball players. The investigation, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, relates to point-shaving allegations that could be among the biggest in the sport’s history.
Teams involved include Arizona State, Temple, University of New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley State. NCAA President Charlie Baker has been vocal about the risks, noting that players from smaller programs may be bigger targets because their teams are out of tournament contention or they have lesser professional aspirations.
League Responses
All three major leagues have responded with policy changes:
MLB: Working with sportsbook partners including FanDuel and DraftKings, baseball established a $200 limit on pitch-level prop bets and prohibited those bets from being included in parlays.
NBA: The league issued a memo proposing changes to injury reporting, requiring teams to update public injury reports every 15 minutes on game days instead of hourly. The NBA is also exploring whether player prop bet limits should be negotiated with sportsbooks and regulators.
NFL: A November 2025 memo to all 32 teams outlined efforts to limit and “where possible, prohibit altogether” prop bets the league views as vulnerable to manipulation, particularly props controlled by one player on a specific play.
What This Means for Bettors
The push for prop restrictions will likely intensify in 2026. At least 17 states already restrict college player props, with nuanced rules in others. Louisiana bans them entirely. Industry sources expect more states to add restrictions this year.
For contrarian bettors, the trend has implications. Prop bets, particularly same-game parlays built around player performance, have become the most profitable products for sportsbooks. DraftKings saw a significant increase in parlay handle mix from 2024 to 2025. If restrictions tighten, sportsbooks may need to compete more aggressively on traditional spread and moneyline markets.
The fade the public approach has always focused on point spreads and totals rather than granular props. The scandals validate that focus. When individual players can manipulate outcomes, the integrity of those markets is compromised. Spread and moneyline bets require team-wide performance, making manipulation far more difficult.
The Regulatory Outlook
Federal involvement remains unlikely despite congressional hearings. Representative Paul Tonko of New York has pushed for integrity standards through the SAFE Bet Act, but comprehensive federal regulation of sports betting has little momentum.
The more probable outcome is a patchwork of state-level restrictions. Some states will ban college player props entirely. Others will cap bet sizes on vulnerable markets. Sportsbooks may preemptively limit offerings to maintain their licenses, as they did after the Porter ban when major operators stopped offering player props on two-way contract players.
For bettors, the lesson aligns with contrarian principles: focus on markets with structural integrity. The scandals revealed that micro-props on individual player actions create opportunities for corruption. Traditional spread betting, where outcomes depend on team performance rather than individual moments, remains the foundation of sustainable betting strategy.
The betting landscape is shifting. The public will chase the next same-game parlay. Contrarian bettors will focus on markets where the game itself determines the outcome.