Can reporters make bets on sports they cover? We asked a dozen newsrooms.

Reporters often have inside information that could help them predict winners and losers in professional sports. They know more about potential trades, injuries, locker room dynamics, and who might go where (and when) in the draft process than the general public. Reporters even cast votes that help determine awards like Most Valuable Player, All-Star Game appearances, and the Hall of Fame. And, unlike professional athletes and team employees, there are few formal rules barring journalists from using that info for financial gain.

As sports betting explodes in popularity and goes online in more than half of U.S. states, newsrooms have leaned into providing up-to-the-minute info for gamblers as well as diehard fans. Some newsrooms have found bettors are five times as engaged as non-betting fans and that readers are willing to subscribe to get paywalled content on betting. The long-blurry lines between sportsbooks and journalism have been effectively erased in recent years.

We wanted to know how news orgs were instructing journalists to navigate the ethical minefield that is possessing insider information in a golden age of sports betting. Nieman Lab asked several newsrooms a straightforward question: Does your newsroom ban its journalists from betting on sports they cover?

A surprising (to me!) number of news orgs either declined to comment or simply didn’t respond. Among those that did reply? Well, it turns out there are big gaps between newsrooms on the issue right now. Some say beat reporters are banned from betting on the leagues they cover. Some say betting is part of their reporters’ jobs. Others leave it up to individual journalists.

Does your newsroom have a policy on sports betting? Let us know. We’ll update this list.

The Athletic and The New York Times

NBA reporter Shams Charania‘s tweets regularly move betting lines. Charania — subject of two major profiles in 10 days last month — has been the most public face for the potential for conflict of interest. At both The Athletic and The New York Times, though, reporters covering leagues and teams are barred from betting on their beat.

There’s one carveout. Unlike the Times, The Athletic has dedicated sports betting coverage. The reporters working on the betting desk are allowed to gamble on sports, as laid out in this guidance issued by The Athletic in June 2022:

Staff members are prohibited from betting on the leagues (e.g., NFL, NBA, EPL) that they cover and from using information obtained through work or relationships developed through their work with The Athletic to bet on other sports.

Those staffers who work regularly as part of our Betting vertical desk and need to understand the ins and outs of sports wagering to remain experts in the field are allowed to wager on sports. However, those staffers or freelance contributors must not write or produce audio about companies they may have a relationship with outside The Athletic to avoid any conflict of interest.

Bleacher Report

The PR team for Bleacher Report did not respond to a request for comment.

The Boston Globe

At least as far back as 2013, when John Henry — the owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC, incidentally — took over ownership of the Globe, reporters have been barred from gambling on sports they cover, a Globe spokesperson confirmed.

CBS Sports

Representatives for CBS Sports did not respond to requests for comment.

Dallas Morning News

Calvin Watkins, a reporter covering the Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News, serves as president of the Pro Football Writers of America group. The Wall Street Journal reported he told NFL public relations officials who asked about gambling among journalists: “There’s only so much we can do. It’s up to the individual reporter to have his own morals and ethics, and it’s up to the paper or the website to police their reporters.”

Watkins — as well as the paper’s editor-in-chief and sports editor — did not respond to requests for comment about the policy at the Morning News.

ESPN

John Manzo, ESPN spokesperson for digital, said a formal ESPN policy on journalists betting on sports they cover has not been “finalized.”

“With the upcoming launch of ESPN BET, a branded sportsbook we’re working on in partnership with PENN Entertainment, we are evaluating an employee policy on betting,” Manzo wrote.

ESPN BET is slated to launch in 17 states on November 14.

Gannett / USA TODAY

Gannett is leaving the decision to bet on sports they cover to individual employees.

“The Gannett / USA TODAY Network provides sports betting information for knowledge and entertainment purposes. We provide content and products that align our offerings with evolving media consumption,” a Gannett spokesperson wrote from an unsigned PR address. “These efforts are consistent with our ethical guidelines, specifically maintaining our editorial independence and acting with integrity.”

I followed up — does that conflict of interest language mean Gannett reporters should not gamble on the sports they cover?

“Your assumptions are not correct and are misleading,” a spokesperson wrote back. “We expect all employees and colleagues to conduct themselves in an ethical manner. Related to our reporters, they are professionals who we expect to use their journalistic judgement and follow our ethics guidelines when covering any topic — including sports betting.”

The Los Angeles Times

The L.A. Times’ ethics guidelines state that staff members “may not work on stories that could, in any way, shape events for their own financial gain.” (Sports betting is not explicitly mentioned.)

New York Post

Spokespeople and the Post’s sports editor did not respond to requests for comment.

The Ringer

The Ringer did not respond to requests for comment.

That said, anyone who has listened to The Ringer’s sports podcasts knows the sports media company is all-in on betting. It’s not uncommon for coverage to have a gambling focus (“How James Harden Affects the NBA Markets”) and their podcast suite includes shows like Gamblers (presented by FanDuel), The Ringer Gambling Show (ditto), and Cousin Sal’s Winning Weekend (x3). It certainly appears hosts are free to bet on sports they cover.

Salt Lake Tribune

Sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C. But would a newsroom in a decidedly anti-gambling state have updated its policies? Gambling isn’t legal in Utah and Salt Lake Tribune editor Lauren Gustus said the paper doesn’t have a formal policy. “This may be oversimplifying things, but we haven’t seen a need for a policy given Utah’s prohibition,” Gustus said.

SB Nation / Vox

A Vox spokesperson declined to comment on whether the company has an ethics policy in place around reporters betting on sports they cover.

Sports Illustrated

“We do not have a policy in place on this,” a spokesperson confirmed via email.

The Washington Post

The Post’s public ethics policy does not reference gambling or sports betting. It does read, in part, “At all times, Post journalists should avoid using their affiliation with The Post for personal benefit or private gain.”

Yahoo Sports

Spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.