As sports betting becomes more prevalent in the US, professional leagues have bolstered in-house technology, dedicated security personnel and partnered with sportsbook operators and integrity firms to create a network that monitors the betting market. This gives them more visibility of bets placed on the NFL, where they’re being made and who is making them. It’s also given them more ammunition to catch offenders. In the past five years, the NFL has punished at least seven players and several coaches for placing bets on its games, including three who were in uniform and two others who were at team or league facilities.
The NFL has a strict anti-betting policy, which includes a clause that bars anyone who is an employee of the NFL from placing bets on the games they’re working on. That extends to in-uniform officials, such as referees and umpires. It also applies to league employees, such as scouts and public relations staff.
NBA athletes can place bets if they’re outside of the company’s facilities, but cannot participate in any wagers that involve the NBA or its properties (such as Super Bowl squares). Joseph Sullivan, who paid eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox to fix the World Series, was banned from baseball for life by the MLB for violating this code.
The ICC’s rules on match-fixing prohibit bribing players or team officials, but there are exceptions to this rule for players and club officials at lower levels of the men’s and women’s league systems. Those exceptions include if a player provides information that “could reasonably be used” to fix a match, and for players in their personal capacities, not in their official capacities.