Aug 9, 2026 · 31 min · 13 segments
ESPN Investigative Reporter Tisha Thompson receives a tip that, if true, could damage Shohei Ohtani’s picture-perfect reputation. To listen to the rest of The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani, follow 30…
Tisha ThompsonHost
Tim KeownGuest
David PurdumGuest
I started working on this story a year before Shohei won that World Series, when a source sent me a tip.
It was information from a federal court document still under seal, a list of items that had been seized
It included the kinds of things you might expect from a federal raid, computers, hard drives, and cell phones.
But there were also $40,000 Breitling watches, handbags from Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and casino chips.
Why were the feds interested in it? Because all of these things were taken from a house owned by a man named Matt Boyer.
The feds also seized a cash counting machine, sports betting records, and receipts for offshore bank wires.
And that's when I say to myself, I think Matt Boyer is a bookie, a person who takes bets, pays them out when they win, and collects when they lose.
According to my source, his clients include celebrities, millionaires, and seemingly one of the most famous athletes in the world.
When my source tells me the name of that athlete, it's a name so big, so shocking, that all I write down is the letter O.
You tell me the name of the athlete involved and that the feds are involved in an investigation.
And that is why we have to be so careful.
This is my editor, Elaine Tang.
We're really worried about putting a rumor out there that then comes back to us as fact.
We have to be really careful about going out and saying like, hey, like, do you think is Shohei Otani gambling with a bookie?
This tip was so potentially damning, we needed to tread really carefully because it could turn into a very grown-up version of that kid's game, telephone, where someone whispers something to someone and then they whisper it to someone else.
And by the time it comes back to you, it's totally different from what you said.
By the time I call several someones later, that person then says to me, oh yeah, I have heard he gambles.
I started working on this story a year before Shohei won that World Series, when a source sent me a tip.
It was information from a federal court document still under seal, a list of items that had been seized
It included the kinds of things you might expect from a federal raid, computers, hard drives, and cell phones.
But there were also $40,000 Breitling watches, handbags from Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and casino chips.
Why were the feds interested in it? Because all of these things were taken from a house owned by a man named Matt Boyer.
The feds also seized a cash counting machine, sports betting records, and receipts for offshore bank wires.
And that's when I say to myself, I think Matt Boyer is a bookie, a person who takes bets, pays them out when they win, and collects when they lose.
According to my source, his clients include celebrities, millionaires, and seemingly one of the most famous athletes in the world.
When my source tells me the name of that athlete, it's a name so big, so shocking, that all I write down is the letter O.
You tell me the name of the athlete involved and that the feds are involved in an investigation.
And that is why we have to be so careful.
This is my editor, Elaine Tang.
We're really worried about putting a rumor out there that then comes back to us as fact.
We have to be really careful about going out and saying like, hey, like, do you think is Shohei Otani gambling with a bookie?
This tip was so potentially damning, we needed to tread really carefully because it could turn into a very grown-up version of that kid's game, telephone, where someone whispers something to someone and then they whisper it to someone else.
And by the time it comes back to you, it's totally different from what you said.
By the time I call several someones later, that person then says to me, oh yeah, I have heard he gambles.
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3 of 9
No Ipe Without Shohei
Their partnership went far beyond ordinary interpreter duties
Baseball's Greatest Star Faces A Lifetime Ban
Baseball's betting rules carry extraordinary consequences for stars
A Single Name Changed Everything
The suspected athlete's identity made the allegation explosive
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