MLB Fires Umpire for Sharing Betting Accounts

Major League Baseball on Monday fired one of its most respected umpires for "sharing" legal sports betting accounts with a friend who bet on baseball and for intentionally deleting messages key to the investigation into his conduct.

As reported by Jesse Rogers of ESPN, MLB said Pat Hoberg, widely regarded as the best ball-strike umpire in the game, "adamantly denied betting on baseball directly or indirectly" through an appeals process, and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred admitted there was "no evidence" that Hoberg directly bet on games or manipulated the outcomes of any games "in any way."

However, in its statement, MLB said it fired Hoberg for failing to "uphold the integrity of the game" and that he "should have known" that his friend — a professional poker player — had bet on baseball from the shared account.

Hoberg, 38, can apply for reinstatement no earlier than the start of spring training in 2026.

"I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today's statement [by MLB]" Hoberg said in a statement via 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."

In a release, MLB detailed its findings from its investigation, as well as a neutral fact finder, including information from witness testimony and review of electronic records. Here's how ESPN presented those findings:

• Hoberg met his friend, identified as "Individual A," at a poker tournament in 2014. They golfed, traveled together and watched sports on TV. The friend was a frequent overnight guest at Hoberg's home in Iowa.

• In 2019, when online sports betting became legal in Iowa, Hoberg's friend opened a legal online betting account with a sportsbook and then a second legal account with another sportsbook. Betting on these accounts was possible only from electronic devices physically located in Iowa. Hoberg asked his friend to place non-baseball sports bets for him using the accounts to do so. Subsequently, the friend gave Hoberg the username and password to his accounts so that Hoberg could place bets directly by logging into the accounts using Hoberg's own devices on occasions when his friend was not in Iowa and, therefore, not able to place the bets for Hoberg.

• Hoberg's requests to his friend to place bets for him were communicated via the messaging app Telegram. The app was also used to maintain a separate log of Hoberg's direct and indirect bets placed through the friend's accounts. The ledger kept track of the amounts of money Hoberg won and lost as well as the balance Hoberg owed or was owed when he won. Hoberg and his friend would settle outstanding debts in cash when they saw each other in person.

• After being contacted by MLB investigators, the friend deleted both of his Telegram threads with Hoberg. Hoberg also deleted his Telegram account. Hoberg asserted throughout the investigation and appeals process that he had no idea at the time that he was being investigated for betting on baseball because he had no knowledge of his friend's baseball bets. Hoberg said he deleted the messages simply because he was embarrassed by the frequency and volume of his legal non-baseball betting activity. Hoberg's actions regarding the deletion of messages made those messages irretrievable, as later efforts by MLB and Hoberg to recover those messages failed.

• Of the 141 baseball bets placed from his friend's accounts, eight bets involved five games that Hoberg umpired or had responsibility for replay reviews. There was no evidence that Hoberg took any action to manipulate the outcome of the games. A detailed analysis did not reveal any pattern to indicate Hoberg's calls were influenced by the bets being made by his friend.

• The investigation found that although the baseball bets were profitable, the data did not support a finding that bets from his friend's accounts were connected to game-fixing or other efforts to manipulate any part of any baseball game or event. The baseball betting activity also did not focus on any particular club, pitcher or umpire, and there was no apparent correlation between bet success and bet size. The eight bets on games that Hoberg worked similarly did not reveal any obvious pattern.

As reported by ESPN's Rogers, MLB began its investigation into Hoberg in February 2024, after the long-time umpire opened an account with a licensed sports betting operator in his own name. The operator detected that Hoberg's personal electronic device associated with the new account was also associated with the legal sports betting account of an individual who had bet on baseball.

Hoberg was subsequently removed from spring training and made inactive for the 2024 season pending completion of the investigation.

On May 24, 2024, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill determined Hoberg's "conduct and extremely poor judgment" created a situation in which he "could not be trusted" to maintain the integrity of the game on the field.

Hoberg was fired on May 31, but he appealed the process, leading to Monday's decision.

"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," Manfred said in the league's statement Monday, as reported by ESPN. "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."

According to Rogers, Hoberg first umpired MLB games in 2014 and became a full-time umpire in 2017. He umpired postseason games every year from 2018 to 2022 and was assigned to pool games in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Hoberg is best known for his perfect performance in Game 2 of the 2022 World Series, when he was the plate umpire and called all 129 taken balls and strikes correctly.

"We thank Commissioner Manfred for his careful consideration of Pat Hoberg's appeal," the MLBUA said in its own statement, as reported by ESPN. "As Major League Baseball umpires, we have devoted our professional lives to upholding the rules and integrity of the game. If our union believed that an umpire bet on baseball, we would never defend him. But as today's statement from the league makes clear, the neutral fact-finder did not find that Pat placed bets on baseball. Yet we respect Pat's unequivocal acceptance of responsibility for the mistakes that led to his termination."