MLB Umpire Pat Hoberg Tossed on Sports Betting Violations

Posted on: February 3, 2025, 08:23h. 

Last updated on: February 3, 2025, 08:23h.

Major League Baseball umpire Pat Hoberg has been fired a little more than a decade after he officiated his first MLB game. The professional baseball organization said Hoberg was terminated for sharing a mobile sports betting account with a friend who regularly bet on baseball games.

MLB umpire Pat Hoberg sports betting
MLB umpire Pat Hoberg calls out a runner at home plate in August 2014. Hoberg was terminated by professional baseball this week for managing a joint online sportsbook account with a friend in Iowa. (Image: Wikimedia)

MLB opened an investigation into Hoberg, 38, in February 2024 after a licensed sportsbook operator in Iowa reported to the league that the umpire had opened a sports betting account that had made wagers on baseball. The account was installed and registered on a mobile device owned by a Hoberg friend who told investigators he was a professional poker player.

The MLB probe concluded that Hoberg bet habitually through his friend’s device, though there was no evidence to suggest he bet on games he officiated or even MLB games at all. His friend, however, did, in direct violation of Rule 21, which says any player, umpire, team, or league official/employee “shall not bet on any baseball game regardless of their involvement.”

Last June, Casino.org reported that Hoberg was appealing disciplinary action against him. Following a lengthy appeals process, the MLB concluded on Monday, Feb. 3, that termination was warranted.

Umpire Strikes Out 

Before his sports betting scandal came to light, Hoberg was widely considered one of the best umpires in the sport. His career was highlighted by his calling of balls and strikes during Game 2 of the 2022 World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros where Hoberg called all 129 pitches that were not swung at correctly.

Between 2017 and 2023, Hoberg was the most accurate ump in MLB with an accuracy rating of 96.4%. Only a handful of umps each season are graded above 95%.

Hoberg’s demise was his appetite for sports betting. After the investigation first came to light, Hoberg admitted to deleting text messages between him and his friend.

He says the phone cleanse wasn’t because there was incriminating evidence showing he bet on baseball but only because he was embarrassed about his frequency of betting on other sports. Rule 21 does not prohibit umps from participating in legal sports betting outside of the MLB.

I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment. Those errors will always be a source of shame and embarrassment to me,” Hoberg said.

“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,” Hoberg added.

The MLB release on the Hoberg termination said its investigation and analysis of the friend’s bets on baseball “did not find any pattern to indicate Hoberg’s calls were influenced by the bets being made by his friend.” His friend’s eight bets on games Hoberg officiated all lost.

The friend, however, placed 133 other MLB bets between 2021-2023 on the sportsbook account he shared with Hoberg.

MLB Reinstatement Possible 

Hoberg’s firing is not like Pete Rose’s lifetime ban that prohibited the late Reds star from qualifying for Cooperstown. Under the MLB Umpires Association’s collective bargaining agreement, Hoberg can apply for reinstatement no earlier than 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,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. “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.”

Hoberg is the first umpire in MLB history to be banned for violating the league’s sports betting rules since the U.S. Supreme Court struck out a federal law in May 2018 that opened the floodgates to legal sports gambling across the country.