Public Trust in Sports Integrity Slips as Betting Expands and Scandals Spread Across Leagues

A new poll from Ipsos shows that skepticism about sports betting’s effect on competition has climbed steadily over the past two years. Nearly half of Americans now say wagering is undermining the fairness of the games they watch.

The findings arrive as professional and collegiate leagues confront some of the most significant gambling-related investigations in decades. At the same time, regulators warn that emerging prediction markets may introduce a new layer of integrity risk.

Ipsos: Nearly Half of Americans Say Betting Harms Game Integrity

According to the Ipsos survey, 49% of Americans in 2025 said sports betting lessens the integrity of the game. The number rose sharply from 37% in 2023. Among sports fans, that number increases to 55% agreeing that betting is damaging competition.

Nearly half of the respondents also expressed fear that gambling is actively distorting outcomes. About 47% of Americans said they are concerned that sporting events are rigged because of sports gambling. Among sports fans, that number rises to 51%.

Age remains a powerful dividing line. Concern peaked at 60% among Americans aged 65 and older. In comparison, just 38% among those aged 18 to 34 felt the same.

The survey also found rising support for limiting gambling advertising during broadcasts.

About 48% of Americans support banning sports betting ads during games, with support slightly higher among sports fans. However, backing fell when framed as a federal government action. That suggests respondents believe leagues or broadcasters should impose restrictions themselves.

Findings Align With Other Polls

The Ipsos results align with other recent surveys showing that high-profile betting scandals are beginning to erode public trust.

A November Quinnipiac poll found that one-third of Americans believe NBA players or coaches influence betting outcomes.

Meanwhile, a YouGov survey found that 65% of Americans said they believe professional athletes alter their play to benefit those betting on sports. The results reflect the growing suspicion that insider behavior may be affecting wagers.

Furthermore, according to a poll from Sacred Heart University and GreatBlue Research, 79.1% of Americans said the NBA scandal involving Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former player and assistant coach Damon Jones has damaged their trust in the integrity of NBA games.

Together, the surveys suggest that concern is no longer abstract or theoretical. Instead, public anxiety is increasingly shaped by real investigations unfolding across multiple sports.

Scandals Across NCAA, NBA, and MLB Give Weight to Integrity Fears

The growing public concern comes amid several high-profile sports scandals.

At the college level, federal prosecutors unsealed a sweeping point-shaving indictment earlier this month involving 39 current and former college basketball players across 17 programs.

The scheme allegedly involved manipulating performances to influence point spreads, with fixers placing coordinated bets through illegal channels. Investigators have described the case as one of the largest betting-related integrity scandals in modern NCAA history.

The indictment follows multiple instances of the NCAA banning current and former players for violating gambling rules.

Professional basketball has faced its own reckoning.

In a high-profile NBA case, federal authorities arrested Rozier, Billups, and Jones as part of a broad gambling investigation. Rozier was accused of manipulating specific in-game actions to influence betting outcomes.

At the same time, Jones allegedly provided confidential team information to bettors. That reportedly included player availability and lineup details ahead of major wagers. Prosecutors alleged that Billups participated in and profited from rigged poker games tied to organized gambling networks.

The scandal follows ex-Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter receiving a lifetime ban in 2024 for spot-fixing, and Malik Beasley being investigated for similar accusations.

Baseball has not been immune.

In Major League Baseball, federal authorities charged Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz with betting manipulation, a case that drew attention across the league. Prosecutors alleged that wagers were placed based on inside knowledge and manipulated performance, raising fresh concerns about how vulnerable even tightly regulated leagues may be.

Prediction Markets Open a New Integrity Front

Beyond traditional sportsbooks, regulators are now facing a new challenge: the rapid expansion of prediction markets tied to sporting and political outcomes.

Recently, concerns intensified after one Polymarket user made an 1108% profit on contracts tied to the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. The news of the payout prompted questions about the timing of several large trades placed shortly before the announcement.

The issue reached Washington. Recently, a group of U.S. senators, led by Catherine Cortez Masto, sent a formal letter urging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to strengthen enforcement against insider trading and market abuse in prediction markets.

Previously, questions about insider trading on prediction markets arose over questionable contracts involving various topics. They include Taylor Swift’s engagement, Venezuelan opposition leader-in-exile María Corina Machado’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize, and an Alphabet insider correctly predicting Google’s most-searched people of 2025.

While operators argue that prediction markets fall under commodities law rather than gambling statutes, regulators and leagues have warned that the integrity risks closely mirror those of sports betting — particularly when contracts involve player performance or in-game outcomes.

For enforcement agencies, the rise of prediction markets raises a new concern: whether fragmented oversight across gambling and financial regulators could create blind spots in monitoring suspicious activity.

A Growing Trust Gap

Ipsos’s data shows that sports-betting scandals still rank below major political and economic issues in public attention. But the steady rise in integrity concerns suggests that confidence in the fairness of sports may be eroding.

As betting products expand, scandals multiply, and new market structures emerge, leagues and regulators face a widening challenge: maintaining public trust in competition at a time when gambling touches nearly every corner of the modern sports economy.