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The federal indictment of former NBA veterans Malik Beasley and Ed Davis, who are accused alongside several co-conspirators of running a prop betting scheme based on inside information and manipulated performances, has prompted renewed criticism of legal sports betting.
Sports Betting Alliance President Joe Maloney says those critics have it backward.
“This Malik Beasley case is a good example of how the legal, regulated sports betting market helps surface and investigate integrity issues that might otherwise go undetected,” Maloney told Gaming Today.
The indictment alleges Beasley, Davis and others used inside information and, at times, manipulated on-court performances to profit from player prop bets. Maloney said the case highlights a priority shared across the legal sports betting industry.
“As the legal sports betting market expands, players, coaches, regulators, leagues and operators all share the same priority: protecting the integrity of the game,” he said.
“Working alongside regulators and integrity partners, licensed sportsbooks can identify suspicious patterns and quickly escalate them to the appropriate authorities, creating a trail that ultimately supports investigations like this one.”
How legal sportsbooks detect suspicious betting
Maloney explained how integrity monitoring works inside regulated sportsbooks.
Operators and integrity monitoring firms track betting activity in real time using data analytics, algorithms and AI. They monitor for unusual betting patterns, including abnormal wagering volume, coordinated activity across multiple accounts and wagers that differ significantly from expected market movement. All of this also highlights the need for responsible gambling measures and underscores their importance.
“When those anomalies are detected, automated alerts are triggered,” Maloney said. “Operators can then review accounts, restrict or suspend betting, and share information with integrity monitoring firms, regulators and leagues.”
According to Maloney, the process extends beyond individual sportsbooks. Licensed operators participate in cross-industry information sharing, allowing suspicious activity identified by one sportsbook to be checked across others in near real time — something he says illegal offshore operators cannot match.
“This distinction is crucial in understanding how offshore, illegal sportsbooks leave sports vulnerable to misconduct, manipulation and integrity concerns,” he said.
“Without the clear paper trail provided by the tracking and monitoring systems employed by legal, regulated sportsbook operators, suspicious activity would be much more difficult to uncover.”
Why prop bets receive extra scrutiny
Part of the Beasley-Davis indictment centers on rebound prop bets tied to individual games, rather than traditional point spreads or totals. Maloney said those niche markets receive the same level of oversight.
“Niche props are not unlike any other market when it comes to transparency and robust monitoring, thanks in large part to technological advances,” he said.
He argued that those markets are better offered through licensed sportsbooks than pushed toward illegal operators.
“While prop markets can be targeted, they are also highly monitored and often produce very visible red flags when manipulated.”
The integrity network behind every investigation
Maloney outlined the responsibilities of each group once suspicious betting activity is detected.
- Sportsbooks identify and flag suspicious wagering, review accounts and preserve betting data.
- Integrity monitoring firms analyze betting data across operators and issue broader market alerts.
- Leagues and governing bodies investigate potential connections to players, teams or insiders while enforcing league rules.
- Regulators and law enforcement lead investigations and pursue enforcement actions or criminal charges when appropriate.
“Regulated betting, unlike illegal alternatives, creates a paper trail and a partnership network that keeps key stakeholders accountable and often allows these cases to surface in the first place,” Maloney said.
Maloney rejects claims that legalization fuels corruption
Opponents of legal sports betting expansion cite cases like the one involving Beasley and Davis as evidence that legalization encourages corruption. Maloney strongly disagrees.
“Cases like this are being uncovered because of legal online sportsbooks,” he said. “Fans have always, and will always, bet on games. Blaming legalization is lazy and reductive.”
He pointed to integrity scandals that predate widespread legalization, including the NBA betting scandal involving referee Tim Donaghy and the Boston College point-shaving scandal, both of which occurred before the Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in 2018.
“Today, legal operators and state regulators are the cops on the beat, reporting anomalies to regulators and law enforcement authorities, demonstrating how gambling activity remains transparent and can easily bring problematic activity into the light of day,” Maloney said.
Technology has transformed betting oversight
Asked how integrity monitoring has changed since legal sports betting expanded across the U.S., Maloney described a system built for greater speed and coordination.
“Integrity monitoring has evolved dramatically,” he said. “Today, regulated sportsbooks and monitoring organizations analyze vast datasets across millions of events, using automated systems to flag suspicious betting patterns in real time.”
“What’s changed most is speed and coordination,” he added.
“Constant monitoring flags integrity concerns, and alerts can now be generated and shared across the market before a game even begins, allowing operators to suspend betting, prevent payouts or take the necessary enforcement steps.”
Professional sports leagues play a central role
Maloney said leagues play an active role in protecting sports integrity, describing them as “essential partners in both prevention and enforcement.”
He said leagues work with sportsbooks and integrity firms to determine which betting markets are offered while educating players, coaches and team personnel about prohibited gambling activities.
“There are rules now with legalization, and every league sets a different policy on commercial gambling and working with the legal and regulated sports betting industry,” he said.
When sportsbooks identify suspicious activity, Maloney said leagues conduct their own investigations, coordinate with law enforcement and impose discipline ranging “from suspensions to lifetime bans.”
He added that leagues also help shape integrity policies by enforcing rules governing insider information, reporting requirements and player conduct.
Legal sportsbooks create accountability
Asked what he wishes the public better understood about legal sports betting, Maloney said many people incorrectly believe regulated sportsbooks create integrity problems.
“The biggest misconception about our industry is that legal betting creates integrity problems,” he said.
“In reality, regulated sportsbooks are one of the strongest tools we have to detect and deter misconduct that threatens healthy competition in leagues. Because bets are tracked, identities are verified and data is shared, suspicious activity within legal sports betting platforms leaves a trail, providing traceable evidence in investigations like this.”
Maloney closed with a warning about illegal betting markets.
“People will always find ways to bet on sports,” he said. “Misconduct, suspicious activity and bad actors become much harder to identify and track on illegal and offshore markets. Without the transparency, monitoring and reporting obligations that exist in the legal market, those risks are far more likely to stay hidden.”
