MLB Fires Pat Hoberg for Sharing Betting Accounts

MLB has fired umpire Pat Hoberg for sharing sports betting accounts with a professional poker player who bet on baseball, The Athletic reported on Monday. The league did not find that he bet on baseball or affected games with his umpiring, but he deleted messages that were pertinent to the investigation.

Hoberg was fired last May 31 but appealed the decision, and a neutral party was brought in. Still, the final decision on the appeal was up to Commissioner Rob Manfred, according to the umpires’ collective bargaining agreement.

“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.”

Hoberg can apply for reinstatement in spring training 2026 at the earliest, according to The Athletic.

“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.”

The umpires’ union also weighed in: “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.”

MLB opened a probe into Hoberg in February 2024 when a sportsbook told the commissioner’s office that he opened an account on Jan. 30, The Athletic reported. He started working games professionally in 2009 and became a full-time MLB umpire in 2017.

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