Major League Baseball has terminated umpire Pat Hoberg for violating the league’s gambling policy. Hoberg was disciplined by the league last summer and appealed the decision. In the announcement Monday, MLB said that the appeals process — with commissioner Rob Manfred, the MLB Umpires Association and in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement — had upheld the decision to fire Hoberg.
From MLB’s official statement:
The disciplinary action was taken due to Hoberg’s failure to uphold the integrity of the game by sharing sports betting accounts with a professional poker player and friend who bet on baseball and whom Hoberg should have known bet on baseball, and due to Hoberg’s intentional deletion of messages central to MLB’s investigation into his conduct. Throughout the investigation and appeals process, Hoberg adamantly denied betting on baseball directly or indirectly (i.e., through his friend), and the data provided by the sportsbooks does not show any baseball bets from his own electronic devices. MLB found no evidence that Hoberg or anyone else took any action to manipulate the outcomes of any games, and an analysis of the betting data did not show any discernible patterns indicative of an integrity risk. Consistent with Major League Rule 2(c) for players, Hoberg can apply for reinstatement, but no earlier than the start of 2026 Spring Training.
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. 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.
“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,” 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.”
The MLBUA released the following statement:
“We thank Commissioner Manfred for his careful consideration of Pat Hoberg’s appeal. 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 factfinder 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.”
The 38-year-old Hoberg debuted in Major League Baseball as an umpire in the 2014 season and has long generally been considered one of the best balls-and-strikes umpire in the league. He’s worked in the playoffs in five different seasons and that includes the 2022 World Series.
“I take full responsibility for the errors in judgment that are outlined in today’s statement,” Hoberg said in a statement. “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. I vow to learn from them and to be a better version of myself moving forward.”
Major League Baseball allows personnel to gamble on other sports, but all of them are forbidden from gambling on any “diamond” sports, which means gambling on baseball or softball at any level are forbidden. The issue here that got Hoberg fired was he is alleged to have shared a gambling account with someone who bet on baseball.
Perhaps the most important takeaway from the statement is that MLB found zero games to have been compromised by the gambling in question here.
As noted in the league’s statement, Hoberg could apply for reinstatement in spring training of 2026.
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