#sports-betting

#sports-betting

First, analytics writer Seth Walder breaks down three stat trends that could be pivotal this weekend. Then, fantasy writer Eric Moody highlights five players who are rostered in less than 50% of ESPN leagues as of Saturday and could be started in a jam. That's followed by NFL analyst Ben Solak's three potential surprises, NFL analyst Matt Bowen's key matchup to watch and sports betting analyst Pamela Maldonado's favorite bet for Week 15.

At one point in the game's final drive, the Raiders ran a pass play that ended with receiver Tyler Lockett being tackled inbounds with just eight seconds left. That should've ended the game, but a defender was flagged for a delay of game penalty when he jumped on Lockett and didn't immediately let him get up. This stopped the clock, allowing the Raiders to kick a 46-yard field goal to make the final score 24-17.

It could be minimal or it could be significant depending on which personnel and staff follow him out the door. The point spread will certainly be affected, but the bigger shift may come in offensive efficiency. With a defensive-minded coach likely taking the reins, expect the total to trend lower.

In any given year there are more than 500,000 American boys playing on almost 20,000 high school basketball teams, and fewer than 2% of them will make it to March Madness. Only 60 young men get drafted by an NBA team each summer, and in the most recent draft a third of those spots went to international players. The numbers suggest the funnel from the Amateur Athletic Union into the NBA is one of the narrowest in all of sports.

After going 11-0 in one-score games during the 2024 season, the luck pendulum had completely swung back on the Kansas City Chiefs, who entered Sunday 0-5 in one-score games for 2025. But sportsbooks never lost faith in Kansas City and on Sunday, the Chiefs finally reversed the narrative, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 23-20.

"I just had a child," Hunter said. "The school wasn't paying me money, so I was trying to get money to take care of my child."

Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which oversees professional sports, called the allegations against Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz "markedly more serious" than other recent betting incidents in baseball. Federal prosecutors on Sunday indicted Clase and Ortiz and accused them of rigging individual pitches over multiple games so gambling associates could profit on wagers.

Online betting is more accessible than ever, with 14% of U.S. adults saying they bet on professional or college sports online either frequently or occasionally, according to a February poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. It's also in the news, with a growing list of sports betting scandals making headlines.Public health advocates and personal finance advisers say it's important to know the risks if you're going to gamble online.

"Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, Major League Baseball has continuously worked with industry and regulatory stakeholders across the country to uphold our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans," commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "I commend Ohio Governor DeWine for his leadership on this issue over the last several months. I also commend the industry for working with us to take action on a national solution to address the risks posed by these pitch-level markets, which are particularly vulnerable to integrity concerns. "We look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders, including licensed sports betting operators, elected officials and regulators, to ensure we are always protecting the integrity of our game."

Earlier this year, during the college basketball event known as March Madness, the biggest sports gambling apps were lighting up Eden Iscil's phone with notifications. From sunrise to late evening, they kept inviting him to wager on games, players, and teams. But the apps didn't know that Iscil wasn't actually interested in placing bets or winning money. In fact, Iscil isn't a "sports person" and had never gambled on sports before downloading the FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM apps.

I hear everyone else's frustration - media, fans. Shoot, ever since sports betting started happening, I get people telling me to kill myself every week," Gano said. "Cause I'll hit a kick that loses them money. I'll miss a kick and it loses them money. It was the other day that someone told me to get cancer and die. I mean, that stuff is part of it.

A United States congressional committee is meeting with NBA officials Wednesday in Washington, D.C., in wake of the indictments of Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones, sources tell ESPN's Shams Charania. The meeting is considered an informational sit-down for members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and will include conversations about the league's partnerships with sportsbooks and measures to prevent illegal use of non-public information, the sources said.