Cal Thomas: A bad bet

Cal Thomas, Tribune Content Agency on Jan 20, 2026

It wasn’t that long ago when sports betting was illegal. Then suddenly it was as though profit, rather than controlling this vice, became paramount. It was inevitable, given human nature, that bad things would follow legalization.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal carried a front-page story that reported “one of the most sprawling gambling cases in the history of American sports: a national and international conspiracy to allegedly rig dozens of games that reached from U.S. college basketball to the top professional league in China.”

There was a time in America when laws against gambling were believed necessary because of the potential harm it cause d by corrupting the sport and causing some people to risk more than they could afford to lose. Vice in all its manifestations was something society once thought should be controlled. Consider three of vice’s definitions: “depravity, wrong, fault.” When those definitions become subjective, the door is opened to promoting, not controlling, gambling and other vices. What could follow? Some politicians say prostitution should be made legal nationwide, and not in just certain parts of Nevada and Maine, where it’s legal to sell sex, but illegal to buy it. But if politicians can find a way to tax it, they probably will.

Now we have betting platforms that go by the names DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, bet365, Fanatics Sportsbook, BetRivers and Hard Rock Bet, among others. From their TV ads, many seem to target Black gamblers.

During my brief college basketball career, the coach would come to the locker room after a game to distribute what was called “lunch money.” Most of it went to the high scorer. This was during a time when there was supposed to be strict separation between professional and amateur sports. Now, college players are being paid for the use of their “image” and other things. Some are enticed to transfer to other schools that offer better financial deals. Today there seems little difference between college and professional sports, including the number of tattoos. Alumni contribute cash to their alma maters, hoping to produce winning teams.

The Journal reported: “In total, the government alleges that at least 39 players on 17 different Division I teams manipulated about 29 contests in 2024 and 2025 in places such as Moon Township, Pennsylvania, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The schools alleged to be involved feature a Big East stalwart (DePaul) and two programs that reached the NCAA tournament last March (Robert Morris and Alabama State). Four of the players charged appeared in games this week, including one who scored 21 points for Kennesaw State as recently as Wednesday night.”

Game-rigging, which used to be on the fringes of sports (Cincinnati Reds player Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life for betting on his own games and denied entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame) has now moved close to center court. “No level of basketball is safe,” reports the Journal.

Prosecutors are beginning to charge players they believe to have been involved. They should also indict everyone they can find who has been a co-conspirator. This could affect a lot of university sports programs, especially if involved players are removed from teams. It must be done if what’s left of the integrity of college sports is to be restored.

There is precedent for attempting to control other vices. Cigarette advertising has been banned since 1971. Liquor ads are required to focus on people over the legal drinking age. This is believed necessary to discourage especially younger people from smoking and drinking. In the internet age that seems quaint, but sports betting is something that can and should be controlled. The problem is that once it has established roots in the culture, it is difficult – to employ a cliché – to force the genie back in the bottle.

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Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).