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Several betting scandals have dominated headlines across the sports world in recent weeks and months.
On Tuesday, longtime NHL commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the issue during a wide-ranging interview. The league recently partnered with leading prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket.
Bettman argued that harmony between prediction markets and sports betting positions the NHL to have better oversight and, ultimately, more power to “eliminate any contracts that we do not 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/Image Images)
While no current NHL players or coaches have been implicated in the recent scandals that have rocked the NBA and MLB, Bettman believes the major professional hockey league is positioned to avoid similar problems.
“I don’t think our game is as susceptible as others might be… you can’t 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 the alleged scheme.
Emmanuel Clase, left, and Luis Ortiz, were indicted in a federal gambling investigation on Nov. 9, 2025. (IMAGE)
The pitchers face charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sports competitions by bribery and money laundering. Both pitchers pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Additionally, last month, the NBA was rocked by a widespread betting investigation. Dozens of people linked to the league, including a current head coach, were arrested on October 23.
Despite Bettman’s assertion that the league he oversees is not currently limited in its potential problematic exposure to 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 caused him to lose up to $500,000 in bets through an online betting 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 during the 2017-18 season.
Despite acknowledging that he made mistakes, Jagr insisted that he did not engage in illegal gambling activities.
“It was 1998 and I made mistakes,” Jagr, who was playing 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 fixed 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 placed bets on Boston Bruins games. Billy Taylor, Gallinger’s teammate at the time, also faced punishment.
