I think given there are no charges but the came down hard, he likely did something adjacent to betting on NHL games, close enough that it could undermine public faith in the league, but far enough that they didn't Pete Rose him nor was there any giant scandal. Proxy betting appears to be part of it, giving him a degree of separation, I wouldn't be surprised if his buddy bet on NHL, perhaps prop bets, using his account. If it was just proxy betting on other sports, regardless of if the kid was underage or violated state rules on proxy bets, I don't see the league caring. If it was him directly betting on the outcome of games, he'd be gone. Perhaps the proxy element saved him, but as I said, the issue is causing headache for the league and its newest money maker, they certainly don't want governments seeing the partnership between sports and gambling as in need of stricter regulations.
Why do they need to tell us? The league, Pinto, x betting site, and the law have made their decision for punishment and moved on. Pinto is suspended and losing a lot of money, we as fans are not owed an explanation.
I mean, in theory, there is a public interest in ensuring sports gambling is on the up and up, transparency is generally the way to go when public trust is important. If Pinto did something that puts the sports gambling scenes fairness into question, him losing money and sweeping what happened under the rug isn't ideal.
They absolutely do have to tell the fans if they want people to pay money to watch their product. Accountability begins with transparency and so far on this file, there has been zero. This isn't a private business. This is a very public-facing enterprise that relies on the paying customer to fund it. The NHL's communications strategy around this has been amateurish and pathetic.
It is a private company yes. What I meant is that it isn't a private business in the sense that they operate out of the public eye. Everything they do, their practices, their medical reports, fitness testing, games, etc is all done in the public eye for public consumption. It depends 100% on customers being engaged and supporting them with their pocketbook.
In theory, it would be nice, but since this is a private business, they don't have to do anything. If Pinto was wagering on NHL games, especially games he played in, I'd think they'd have a moral obligation to tell fans.
The NHL is a private business. I am still waiting for an explanation on why Chicago can cover up multiple players being raped and receive no punishment, yet here I am not getting my explanation. People will forget and move on, just like when it happens with the government or any big company.
I think the point is that it doesn't matter what he did. The NHL has punished him, and they are done with it. The only reason people feel they need to tell us what happened is so we can know. Fans not knowing is not going to impact anything; ticket sales are not going to be down; betting is not going to be down. People want to know what happened out of their own curiosity.
The problem is that the partnership between sports and betting does require strong and strict government oversight and regulation.
Response to Qs:
This is largely how I view it as well. He got himself in some serious trouble, but managed to stay just this side of getting the full Pete Rose treatment. People should remember that the NHLPA negotiated his suspension on his behalf - the league was clearly pressing for a full season, and he should be grateful that the PA managed to bargain it down to half a season. The fact that Pinto and the NHLPA so quickly agreed, and were willing to sign non-disclosure agreements, also tells you that the facts in this case don't exactly cast Pinto in a flattering light. Now, he didn't kill or injure anyone driving drunk, didn't hurt anyone, etc., but he made a serious mistake with gambling, one that all players are warned to avoid. He is very fortunate to be in the situation he is in, getting a second chance and having it cost him less time than his shoulder injury did...
His mistake, on the spectrum of how bad it was, is somewhere between full season suspension and criminal offence. Not quite to the level of criminality - we think - and not quite to the level of full season suspension. To me, that rules out a few things, unless something pops up about criminal liability. It's definitely somewhere in the murk of moral/ethical conduct and less in the realm of aiding underage gambling or match fixing.
He’s the likely one to go but 4goals with his deployment, 21 goal pace, is pretty good for a guy who makes 2.5M and plays responsibly.
