In 2024, Tisha Thompson broke the news of one of the biggest and most surprising scandals in sports: the transfer of millions of dollars from baseball great Shohei Ohtani’s bank account to illegal bookmakers. Two years later, she may have more to say on the subject.
Thompson will lead “The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani,” a six-part podcast series produced under ESPN’s long-standing “30 for 30” banner. The first two episodes of the podcast will be removed on July 28th, and new chapters will be released every Tuesday and Thursday until August 11th. In addition to the surprising incident, the show also covers the breakdown of the friendship between Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara, his interpreter who used the pitcher’s money to cover gambling debts. For the first time, listeners will be able to hear the audio of Mizuwon’s only press conference to date.
According to Thompson, the conversation was “probably one of the most important interviews I’ve ever had in my career, and also the strangest interview I’ve ever had.”
Sports fans were transfixed by every detail of Ohtani’s imbroglio. After all, here was a player who had yet to perform outstandingly in the United States and was signed to a 10-year contract worth $700 million with the Dodgers in 2023. “This all happened in the lead up to his debut in a Dodgers uniform, and Major League Baseball was intent on showing him that he was already the face of the organization. He was an emerging big star, and a lot of money and marketing money had already been spent on him,” Thompson says.
Avid fans of ESPN have long been accustomed to long-form journalism from the sports media giant, including not only “30 for 30” but also shows like “E:60.” For years, ESPN has faced questions about how much corporate and investigative reporting it can produce as it is forced to spend heavily on sports rights and move closer to some sports leagues that provide programming for fans to watch. Disney said ESPN’s approach to journalism will not change even if the National Football League acquires a 10% stake in the sports outlet in 2025.
To be sure, there will be some political parties that would prefer Mr Thompson to leave the issue alone. At the same time, she says Ohtani’s story continues to generate buzz and interest, and there are more details to provide. “We were able to get a ton of new coverage that people had never heard of,” she says, and were able to expand on the story by looking at how the rise in gambling has affected sports culture.
One of the people featured on the podcast is bookmaker Matthew Bowyer, who runs an illegal gambling business in California, where sports betting remains illegal, and counts Mizuhara among his clients. Bowyer “is going to explain how he did it,” Thompson said. “How did he acquire these billionaire customers? Where did he go looking for them? How did he lure them into his sportsbook? How did he continue to put them at risk even as he penetrated over his customers’ heads?” Thompson said listeners will hear from one of the investigators about the case, but “for the first time, people with first-hand knowledge of what happened will talk about what they saw and why they came to the conclusions they did.”
She also hopes people who follow her story understand how hard she and her colleagues at ESPN have worked to present content that is factual and not idle chatter. “My job is not to spread rumors. It’s my job to present source information,” the journalist says. “This was a very challenging story. Investigative reporting is difficult, but one of the reasons it’s difficult is because it affects people’s lives and reputations.”
The program also includes quirky elements. Listeners will learn about Bowyer’s relationship with one of the cast members of “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” Ryan Boyajian. Boyajian, who was Jennifer Pedranit’s fiancé at the time, was apparently the one sending Otani’s money. ESPN reported that Boyajian received immunity in exchange for his testimony.
Thompson said the story continues to generate interest. She said she sometimes gets questions about this story when she goes to the dentist or while watching from the sidelines at her child’s sporting event. “This is all they want to tell me.” This new investigation into Ohtani’s financial scandal may prompt further discussion.
