KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
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For Patrick Mahomes, it’s a business decision not to have anything to do with gambling.
“The NFL and the NFLPA tell us all the different rules that you can and can’t do,” Mahomes said Wednesday, Nov. 12, as the Kansas City Chiefs prepared for a critical AFC West showdown at the Denver Broncos. “I just stay away from it because I don’t want to put myself in that position. That’s something that — your life’s so great, why mess with it, you know?”
Mahomes, who is roughly halfway through a 10-year, $450-million deal as the face of the Chiefs — and really, the NFL — isn’t tempted to risk all that, plus the millions more he rakes in via endorsement deals, for a quick and dirty payday.
With illicit gambling investigations rocking Major League Baseball, the NBA and NCAA basketball in recent months, other professional athletes have clearly reached different conclusions.
“It’s a crazy world we live in these days, seeing all this stuff happen, but I think you just focus on the football and focus on the sport that you love and why you’re here, and you don’t have to worry about all that other stuff,” Mahomes said.
The issue of gambling in sports has grabbed headlines amid a flurry of indictments and investigations.
Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, including All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, were indicted in federal court for allegedly taking bribes to rig prop bets by intentionally throwing a ball, rather than a strike, to start an inning.
Clase — who was in the fourth year of a five-year, $20-million contract that included two additional club option years at $10 million apiece — and fellow reliever Luis Ortiz have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy.
Pro basketball was rocked by its own betting scandal.
Terry Rozier — a 10-year NBA veteran who has made more than $160 million in his career, according to Over the Cap — was arrested as part of an FBI probe for allegedly tipping off bettors about plans to remove himself early from a game under the pretense of an injury.
The NBA investigated and cleared Rozier to return to play, but he’s been suspended indefinitely since his arrest.
Former Mizzou forward Jontay Porter was banned for life from the NBA after a similar betting scheme came to light in June 2024.
Another NBA player, Damon Jones, and Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups, who made nearly $107 million during a 17-year NBA playing career, had just signed a two-year contract extension — probably worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million per year, according to reports — also were arrested as part of that investigation, though their alleged crimes involved rigged poker games.
College basketball has been roiled by yet another point-shaving scandal.
The NFL has handed out some gambling-related suspensions — including for gambling on NFL games and placing bets at team facilities, which the league forbids — but none have directly impacted the integrity of a game as in other sports.
“It gets weird to me sometimes when you have fans talking about it because you’re just trying to go out there and live your life and play the game,” Mahomes said. “Sometimes, they get really attached to you — more than the regular fan — because they have money on the line. For me to them, I would just say don’t do anything you can’t recuperate or live without.”
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