United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced the unsealing today of a one-count indictment charging 10 defendants with conspiracy to commit sports bribery, to operate an illegal sports bookmaking service, and to distribute marijuana. The indictment alleges that the defendants enriched themselves by operating an illegal sports bookmaking business and distributing marijuana, and with their criminal proceeds, conspired to bribe National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball players to alter the outcome of games so that the defendants could profit by betting on the games at Las Vegas, Nevada casinos.
The indictment was handed down in April, but I just learned of it today.
We rarely hear about these sorts of things happening in the pro ranks in the States today, and the most-likely explanation is that the average pro player is paid close to his marginal revenue product. But the average college player in the big money sports cannot be paid anything close to what he is worth. As long as this adherance to the principle of amateurism remains, these kinds of allegations will continue to crop up.
