Folks have been making the same joke about ESPN’s coverage of the Shohei Ohtani saga following their bombshell report on Wednesday.
The new Los Angeles Dodgers star is involved in a betting scandal, with his interpreter fired by the team after claims of millions of dollars being transferred from the player’s account to cover gambling debt.
Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s longtime friend and translator, was booted by the Dodgers for sending wire transfers to a bookmaker in California. Said state is one of 10 in the U.S. where gambling is still illegal.
ESPN, on the other hand, has a stake in the gambling game, having launched its own platform, ESPN Bet, in November last year. The Worldwide Leader in Sports has also been at the forefront of the reporting but continues to promote their service while offering coverage of a wild gambling scandal.
The irony wasn’t lost on folks online. You can see some of their comments below:
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Meanwhile, the MLB will not investigate or discipline Shohei Ohtani, having also gotten into bed with a betting company, with FanDuel now an official sports betting partner.
The Shohei Ohtani Saga Has Gotten Interesting
Shohei Ohtani refused to speak on the matter after playing the San Diego Padres on Thursday. However, Mizuhara, who incurred $4.5 million in debt while betting with an illegal Southern California operation run by Mathew Bowyer, spoke to ESPN in a lengthy 90-minute interview on Tuesday night.
ESPN reported having been provided access to the interpreter by a spokesman for the team and, while preparing to publish his story on Wednesday, was informed that the spokesperson was disavowing Mizuhara’s account.
Ohtani’s lawyers then put out a statement claiming the money was stolen from his account after the initial claims noted that Ohtani allowed the transfers to cover Mizuhara’s debt.
