“It creates more gamblers” — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's old prophecy surfaces as NBA gambling scandal shakes the sports world

Four NBA clubs have been discovered as participating in games as a result of the FBI's thorough investigation into illegal sports gambling. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, and numerous others were charged with federal offences on Thursday as part of a large-scale investigation.

In the midst of all of this, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made a statement outlining his thoughts on how the league will be affected by legalised sports betting.

An old warning from Roger Goodell returns to haunt the sports world amidst the gambling scandal

In the past, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged that he thought legalised sports betting would raise concerns about the league's legitimacy. Ten years later, an illegal gambling scandal has rocked the NBA, purportedly involving several current and former players.Goodell once voiced his worry that permitting sports betting might cause people to doubt the legitimacy of the events being played, even though sports gambling has been allowed in the US since May 2018.When New Jersey filed a lawsuit in 2012 to overturn the federal ban on sports betting, Goodell provided a deposition."If gambling is permitted freely on sporting events, normal incidents of the game such as bad snaps, dropped passes, turnovers, penalties, and play-calling inevitably will fuel speculation, distrust, and accusations of point-shaving or game-fixing.

… It creates more gambling..” He added: "It creates more gamblers and it creates the more likelihood that people are going to perceive it as being an influence."In a 2012 deposition, Goodell stated that in support of a lawsuit filed by the state of New Jersey to overturn a federal prohibition on sports betting. It served as a pillar of the NFL's boilerplate rhetoric at the time on the potential spread of gambling in the US.As per sources, this current situation reportedly presents Roger Goodell and the 32 owners with a choice: either they try to continue as is or they use it as leverage to become more authoritarian when it comes to their players and coaches placing bets on their own games or games about which they have inside knowledge.

An unexpected controversy hits the NBA just days into the new season

Days after the beginning of the 2025–26 NBA season, news broke that Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were arrested after an FBI investigation into rigged poker games and unlawful sports betting.While Rozier is charged with involvement in an illegal betting operation that let players profit from under prop bets on his play, Billups is accused of involvement in an illegal ring of poker games that police suspect cheated wealthy individuals out of millions of dollars.

Billups was allegedly involved in a technology-infused, Mafia-sponsored poker game a few years ago that we couldn't have imagined in our wildest Orwellian fantasies.

Rozier's scheme was more straightforward, but he had a network of co-conspirators to whom he filtered important information. For instance, he would leave a game with a fake injury to underperform on his individual statistics.The arrest, which has been verified by a number of sources, adds another chapter to the escalating issue that has surrounded Rozier since 2023 and now threatens the NBA. According to CBS Sports, Rozier was first the subject of a federal investigation in 2023 for allegedly participating in an illegal betting operation. The NBA and NFL reminded their players that they are not allowed to gamble illegally or wager on league games in light of the recent incidents. Also read: NBA gambling scandal: FBI probe sends shockwaves through the league as controversy unfolds across multiple teams