A playing scandal seemingly permitted by the league rocked the WNBA this week. The league posted a video exhibiting Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese betting of $400 on Wednesday’s recreation between the Atlanta Dream and Dallas Wings.
In a sports activities panorama the place gamers face vital punishment for betting on their very own leagues, not to mention their very own video games, the wager between the 2 gamers drew rapid criticism.
The league produced the video through the league’s all-star recreation in Chicago final weekend, in keeping with CBS Sports. After the Dream received the sport, Reese joked in a information convention: “I’ll be requesting my Apple Pay after this.”
The WNBA later deleted the post and apologized for that includes a wager between two gamers.
“While the social media post was intended to be lighthearted, WNBA players are well aware of the league’s policies prohibiting betting on WNBA games and receive training every year reinforcing those policies,” the league mentioned in an announcement to ESPN. “We recognized that the post missed the mark, removed it shortly after it was published, and addressed the matter internally.”
Now deleted WNBA publish 🤦♀️ pic.twitter.com/CipILp5br9
— Kaitlyn 📊🏀 (@zulueditsae) July 29, 2026
League Doesn’t Punish Players
Despite wagering on their very own groups, neither Reese nor Bueckers look like dealing with any punishment, in keeping with ESPN. The WNBA assertion on the problem added that the league would use the controversy to emphasise that “conversations about wagering on WNBA games, even when intended as a joke, can have negative consequences.”
Bueckers and Reese haven’t commented on the incident, however the league’s collective bargaining settlement prohibits betting on league video games.
“Any player found by the Commissioner after a hearing to have been guilty of wagering (directly or indirectly), or of offering or attempting to wager, money or anything of value on the outcome, score, or any other aspect of any WNBA Competition shall, in the sole discretion of the Commissioner, be subject to a fine, suspension, and/or dismissal and disqualification from any further association with the WNBA,” the settlement notes.
The lack of punishment is a stark distinction to the penalties confronted by athletes in different sports activities lately. The NCAA dominated Texas Tech switch quarterback Brendan Sorsby ineligible in June after it got here to gentle that he’d made quite a few bets on his personal group whereas a member of the Indiana Hoosiers.
The extremely sought-after quarterback later sued the NCAA and tried to enter the NFL by way of a supplemental draft, however that choice was denied by the league.
Players and employees offering inside data for betting functions can draw vital punishment from leagues as properly. In July, the NFL suspended an Arizona Cardinals government for offering confidential details about the group’s draft picks. He shared the knowledge earlier than the group made the picks. Thus, he violated the NFL’s playing coverage.
