When will league employees learn that you will get caught sports betting? The newest addition to this list: umpire Pat Hoberg. He was originally fired in May of 2024, but his appeal was only settled this week. Strike 1, 2, and 3 Pat.
MLB’s gambling policy
Plain and simple: DON’T GAMBLE. There’s no way around it. The Major League Rules states:
“(1) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.”
There’s no ambiguity to it, so there’s no possibility to give the benefit of doubt.
What did Hoberg do?
Pat never placed the bets himself. He had a buddy do it! Hoberg would ask the friend to place wagers on non-baseball related bets. He met “Individual A” at a poker tournament in 2014. They quickly became acquainted with one another, with the individual being a frequent overnight guest, according to Hoberg’s hearings.
When sports betting became legal in Iowa circa 2019, the umpire and his friend created a betting account in the individual’s name, not Pat’s, on two sportsbook apps. They would often communicate through the app ‘Telegram’ to track wins and losses. The two decided to settle debts in cash when they met up.
Due to gambling restrictions, users could only place these wagers when physically in Iowa. Because of this, Mr. Anonymous gave Pat the login information to place the bets on his own.
The investigation
Major League Baseball’s search came upon some curious findings.
When originally contacted by MLB investigators, the friend deleted all message threads with Hoberg. Pat followed suit by completely deleting his Telegram account. A big no-no in investigations.
Upon finding their shared account, the league found that other than bets on games outside of baseball, there were 141 bets placed on MLB games. That’s… a lot of wagers.
Further, eight parlays (multiple bets combined) were found to include games that Hoberg was officiating. Luckily, those games were examined and no patterns of game fixing had been found. In addition to those findings, it was discovered that Pat never gambled on baseball himself. His wagers would only include other sports.
Breaking, per MLB: Umpire Pat Hoberg has been fired for sharing betting accounts with a friend who bet on baseball though there is no evidence Hoberg himself bet on games or manipulated any that he worked. He also deleted messages central to MLB’s investigation.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 3, 2025
Although he never gambled on baseball himself, Pat was still on the same account as someone who was. Because of this, he was still subjected to the rules in place.
What next?
As of February third, Pat Hoberg is banned from officiating games for a year. This is the standard ban, according to Rule 21. He can apply to be reinstated next year, but it will be up to the league to decide if they’ll allow him back.
It’s a simple rule, and so many professionals can’t follow it. So kids… stay in school and don’t gamble!
