Marisa Darden, chair of Benesch’s White Collar, Government Investigations & Regulatory Compliance Practice Group, was interviewed by KNX News Radio Los Angeles on breaking news that federal prosecutors have charged 26 men in a sweeping sports betting and game-fixing scandal.
According to the indictment, a gambling syndicate allegedly bribed then-active college basketball players to intentionally underperform to manipulate betting outcomes. Prosecutors allege the scheme began overseas with fixed games in China before expanding to U.S. college basketball during the 2023–2024 season, with players paid between $10,000 and $30,000 per game. Several players were suspended or removed from their teams following the indictment.
“Part of the allegations in this indictment suggest that these players and these institutions were directly targeted in part because they knew that the money they were offering these students would’ve exceeded their opportunities in the NIL market,” said Marisa. “They’re going to have a really hard time controlling this if they know or are exposing this idea that people who want to game the system can go directly to students and offer them tens of thousand of dollars to fix games.”
Marisa, a former federal prosecutor with extensive experience handling sports betting matters, shared her insights into the case.
Listen here.