An MLB umpire has been fired for sharing betting accounts with a friend who wagered on baseball.
The league announced Monday that a decision to terminate umpire Pat Hoberg’s employment was upheld after an appeal.
MLB said Hoberg failed “to uphold the integrity of the game” by sharing betting accounts with a pro poker player “whom Hoberg should have known bet on baseball.”
Hoberg, 38, denied betting on baseball, data provided by sportsbooks doesn’t show any baseball bets from his devices, and MLB found no evidence that he manipulated the outcome of any games, but MLB says he intentionally deleted messages related to the league’s probe.
“MLB immediately opened an investigation in February 2024 upon receiving information from a licensed sports betting operator that Hoberg had opened a sports betting account in his own name and that the personal electronic device associated with this account was also associated with the legal sports betting account of an individual not covered by MLB’s policies (Individual A) who had bet on baseball,” the league said in a statement.
“Hoberg was subsequently removed from Spring Training and made inactive for the 2024 Championship Season pending completion of the investigatory process. On May 24, 2024, Senior Vice President of On-Field Operations Michael Hill determined that, based on the totality of the circumstances, including impeding the investigation into his conduct, Hoberg’s conduct and extremely poor judgment created a situation in which Hoberg could not be trusted to ‘maintain the integrity of the international game of baseball’ on the field as required by Article 9.A of the CBA.”
Hoberg was initially fired on May 31 of last year and appealed. He has expressed remorse for his actions.
“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement,” Hoberg said in a statement to The Athletic. “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.
“I apologize to Major League Baseball and the entire baseball community for my mistakes,” Hoberg added. “I vow to learn from them and to be a better version of myself moving forward.”
He’s eligible to apply for reinstatement at the start of spring training in 2026.
“The 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,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “An extensive investigation revealed no evidence that Mr. Hoberg placed bets on baseball directly or that he or anyone else manipulated games in any way. However, his extremely poor judgment in sharing betting accounts with a professional poker player he had reason to believe bet on baseball and who did, in fact, bet on baseball from the shared accounts, combined with his deletion of messages, creates at minimum the appearance of impropriety that warrants imposing the most severe discipline. Therefore, there is just cause to uphold Mr. Hoberg’s termination for failing to conform to high standards of personal conduct and to maintain the integrity of the game of baseball.”
