ESPN tried to subtly remove one of its on-air graphics while discussing the major NBA gambling scandal that broke on Thursday, but fans were quick to notice the change.
Several people were arrested on Thursday morning as part of an FBI investigation into multiple illegal gambling rings. Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is facing charges related to rigged high-stakes poker games that were organized with the help of Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested for his alleged involvement in “a scheme to defraud by betting on inside, non-public information about NBA athletes and teams” between December 2022 and December 2024. Former Cleveland Cavaliers player and coach Damon Jones has been charged in both cases.
Naturally, the story dominated sports headlines on Thursday. During ESPN’s “Get Up,” host Mike Greenberg discussed how sports gambling was something that leagues and networks used to distance themselves from as much as possible. As Greenberg was talking about the way attitudes toward sports betting have shifted, a graphic promoting ESPN Bet was removed from the bottom of the screen.
You can see the graphic disappear at around the 23-second mark:
Unreal scene from ESPN Get Up this AM.
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) October 23, 2025
They’re talking the FBI’s arrests for NBA Sports Gambling. Mike Greenberg explains how ESPN used to shun sports gambling…while an ESPN BET promo is on the screen.
The graphics team realizes the disconnect and takes the chyron down lol pic.twitter.com/ICCvyhJHPA
ESPN Bet is the network’s online sportsbook. The graphic was almost certainly removed because of the nature of the conversation.
Of course, there is a significant difference between legal gambling and some of the things members of the NBA community have been accused of doing. Still, ESPN’s producers must have thought it was a bad look to promote their ESPN Bet platform at that particular time.
