The Donaghy Scandal (2007)

The **Tim Donaghy Scandal (2007)** involved an NBA referee who conspired with professional gamblers to bet on games he officiated. Unlike traditional match-fixing, Donaghy utilized **proprietary knowledge** of referee tendencies and league directives to predict outcomes, achieving a win rate exceeding 75%. The scheme was uncovered by the FBI during an unrelated organized crime investigation, rather than by NBA security. **Key Consequences:** * **The Pedowitz Report:** The NBA's internal investigation labeled Donaghy a "rogue official," though Donaghy alleged systemic bias regarding playoff series extensions and star treatment. * **Regulatory Shift:** The scandal demonstrated that **illegal betting markets** obscure corruption, while **line-movement monitoring** can detect it. This realization was pivotal in the eventual shift toward legalized sports betting, as leagues recognized that regulated operators and integrity monitoring services (like Sportradar) were necessary to police the sport.