Umpire Pat Hoberg Fired By MLB For Shared Betting Account
While the investigation showed no signs of fixing games, his actions risked ‘integrity’ of baseball
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Major League Baseball has fired umpire Pat Hoberg following an investigation into his involvement with shared sports betting accounts, the league announced.
While MLB found no evidence that Hoberg bet on baseball or fixed games, Commissioner Rob Manfred said that “strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules governing sports betting conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans.”
MLB opened its investigation in February 2024 after a licensed sports betting operator flagged that Hoberg had opened an account on a device linked to another individual’s betting account. That individual, a professional poker player referred to as “Individual A,” had placed bets on baseball games, including contests that Hoberg umped.
The investigation found that Hoberg and Individual A met at a poker tournament in 2014 and developed a friendship. Starting in 2015, Hoberg placed non-baseball sports bets through Individual A. Between December 2020 and January 2024, records show that Hoberg placed 417 bets totaling $487,475.83 through one sportsbook and at least 112 bets worth $222,130 through another. These bets resulted in a net loss of approximately $74,876. None were on baseball.
Individual A’s accounts, however, placed 141 baseball bets totaling $213,754.45 between April 2021 and November 2023. Eight of those bets involved five games where Hoberg served as an umpire or replay official. Nineteen of Individual A’s baseball bets were placed from Hoberg’s home.
The fix was not in
While the investigation found no pattern suggesting game fixing — one analysis even noted that Hoberg’s accuracy rate in a game where Individual A bet $3,200 on the Dodgers was 98.89%, above his season average — MLB cited concerns over the appearance of impropriety. The league also noted that after being contacted by investigators, both Hoberg and Individual A deleted their message threads on Telegram, where they had communicated about betting activity. Hoberg stated that he deleted the messages out of embarrassment over his betting volume, not because he knew of any baseball bets.
“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement [by MLB],” Hoberg said in a statement released by the Major League Baseball Umpires Association (MLBUA). “Those errors will always be a source of shame and embarrassment to me. Major League Baseball umpires are held to a high standard of personal conduct, and my own conduct fell short of that standard. That said, to be clear, I have never and would never bet on baseball in any way, shape, or form. I have never provided, and would never provide, information to anyone for the purpose of betting on baseball. Upholding the integrity of the game has always been of the utmost importance to me.”
Under Major League rules, Hoberg is eligible to apply for reinstatement starting in spring training 2026.
