• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 7 hours ago

Just days after its big new NBA TV contract started up -- with all the positive momentum going for it including two new TV partners, and the league's big clean market appeal -- the league has endured a technical foul in the worst way: a major sports gambling scandal.

The FBI has arrested Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trailblazers coach Chauncey Billups.

But that is only the start. The illegal gambling issue also focused on other players -- and possibly other sports -- participating in gambling knowledge around faux injuries that seemingly involves point shaving.

One prosecuting attorney said there was an instance where Rozier deliberately removed himself from a game in March 2023 with a faux injury to make sure bettors could make money for an “under” point wager.

If that doesn’t make this dramatic in its own right, the federal probe says old-time New York organized crime families were involved, pulling the strings.

Does this seem like a missing episode from “The Sopranos”? Oh yeah. But it is definitely real life.

A U.S. assistant attorney called the arrests and charges “one of the most brazen sports corruption schemes since online betting became legalized in the U.S."

In that regard, those new legalized sports wagering companies such DraftKings, FanDuel and Bet MGM were used as a ploy to disguise the scheme as legal. A U.S. assistant attorney said: “The sportsbooks themselves are victims in this case.”

But going forward for the rest of the season, one wonders how this will affect league partnerships -- with ad/marketing campaigns tied to sports leagues -- as well as TV networks, sports-focused groups like ESPN, Fox Sports, Fubo TV, and others.

Some companies might need to pull back on some of their marketing exposure going forward -- which comes at a tough time, given the recent start of regular-season NBA games.

The long-term positive, according to Contessa Brewer of CNBC, could help legal sports-wagering companies, in terms of a massive hit that illegal U.S. sports gambling might now take on.

This illegal market is valued at $600 billion. Going forward, an ongoing investigation could severely curtail illegal gambling, yielding a possible benefit to legal wagering companies like DraftKing and FanDuel.

For TV networks themselves wondering if their big expensive TV contracts -- those where they already are planned with expected financial losses in the early deals of the contract -- will look for any compensation from the NBA with regard to what will be a period of a heavy negative marketing spin around league play.

This might put other longtime non-sports wagering NBA marketing partners in a bind as well when it comes to advertising/messaging during regular-season play.

More than 30 people have been indicted in connection with this investigation, and federal officials hinted that they are only at the beginning stages.

With that as a backdrop, who will be the first to foul out?