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Sports mafia ties run deeper than NBA gambling scandal (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46732224/billups-jones-rozier-nba-gambling-scandal-mafia-ties-historyJust a bit that might be all-too familiar to readers. Quite a lot here, including history.
During the 1978-79 season, a group of Boston College basketball players was recruited to manipulate scores by Henry Hill and Jimmy "The Gent" Burke -- associates of New York's Lucchese crime family, later immortalized in "Goodfellas." Hill's group placed large wagers through mob-controlled bookmakers, carefully avoiding final outcomes and focusing on the spread to evade detection.
In the mid-2000s, NBA referee Tim Donaghy admitted to betting on games he officiated and feeding insider information to professional gamblers, some with organized crime ties. Even tennis and boxing, with their individual athletes and opaque judging, have periodically drawn mob attention -- from fixed fights in Las Vegas to match manipulation on international betting exchanges.
"People who want to fix games would make it their business to cultivate relationships so these kids would be beholden to them," said Edward A. McDonald, who led the prosecution of the Boston College point-shaving case. "They make sure they are friendly with these kids, and the next thing you know they are in their world."
Snip
But, as always, gambling remains one of the Mob's most profitable activities. Even with the proliferation of legalized wagering, underground betting still has an unshakeable allure.
In the mid-2000s, NBA referee Tim Donaghy admitted to betting on games he officiated and feeding insider information to professional gamblers, some with organized crime ties. Even tennis and boxing, with their individual athletes and opaque judging, have periodically drawn mob attention -- from fixed fights in Las Vegas to match manipulation on international betting exchanges.
"People who want to fix games would make it their business to cultivate relationships so these kids would be beholden to them," said Edward A. McDonald, who led the prosecution of the Boston College point-shaving case. "They make sure they are friendly with these kids, and the next thing you know they are in their world."
Snip
But, as always, gambling remains one of the Mob's most profitable activities. Even with the proliferation of legalized wagering, underground betting still has an unshakeable allure.