The Portland Trail Blazers might not be the only ones in for a major change in the wake of the betting scandal that rocked the NBA on Thursday. The Blazers lost their head coach, Chauncey Billups, to an indefinite league suspension after he was arrested for allegedly helping organized crime members rig poker games. According to indictments, Billups also might have offered insider information to bettors on Portland games.
Today the New York Post is reporting that the NBA may endure serious lawsuits as a result of the latter activity. They quoted an expert in gambling law saying that the league’s exposure could be enormous:
“The risk to the league to defend this and all of the dominoes off of it, including the overall integrity of the brand is definitely nine figures, and could be 10 figures,” International Masters of Gaming Law President Marc Dunbar told The Post.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a lawsuit is dropped by or before next Friday.”
Presumedly the class action would come from bettors who did not have access to the privileged information, placing wagers on propositions that they believed to be fair and legitimate. Sports wagering websites themselves could also have a claim.
“I can guarantee you that there’ll be some resulting class actions coming out of all this,” gaming attorney Ernest Matthews said.
The perception that the NBA is “getting in bed” with gaming companies could open the league up to hefty litigation from aggrieved gamblers
Legal proceedings for Billups and other defendants might not be the only, nor the biggest, fallout from the scandal. Stay tuned.
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