Tisha Thompson broke news in 2024 about one of the biggest and most surprising scandals in sports – the transfer of large sums of money from baseball star Shohei Otani’s bank account to illegal bookmakers. Two years later, she might have more to say on the subject.
Thompson will host a six-part podcast series called “The Betrayal of Shohei Ohtani,” produced under ESPN’s longtime “30 for 30” banner. The podcast launches on July 28th with a release of the first two episodes, with new chapters being released every Tuesday and Thursday until August 11th. The show explores not only the surprising incident, but also the breakdown of the friendship between Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara, his interpreter and the person who used the pitcher’s money to pay off gambling debts. For the first time, listeners can hear audio from the only press interview Mizuhara ever gave.
The conversation, says Thompson, was “probably one of the most important interviews I’ve ever done in my career, and it’s also the strangest interview I’ve ever done.”
Sports fans were amazed by every detail of Ohtani’s trick. After all, this was a player who had yet to produce a breakthrough performance in the United States and who had signed a 10-year deal with the Dodgers in 2023 worth $700 million. “This is all happening in the lead-up to his debut in a Dodgers uniform, and Major League Baseball has gone all out to show that he is already the ‘face’ of the organization,” Thompson says. “He was the big, rising star and so much money and marketing dollars had already been spent.”
Die-hard ESPN fans have long been accustomed to longer-form journalism from the Disney sports media giant, not just from “30 for 30” but also from shows like “E:60.” Over the years, ESPN has faced questions about how many more entrepreneurial and investigative stories it can produce as it is forced to spend larger sums on sports rights and as it grows closer to some of the sports leagues that provide the programming that fans watch. Disney has said that ESPN’s approach to journalism will not change even if the National Football League takes a 10% stake in the sports network in 2025.
To be sure, there are probably several parties who would prefer that Thompson simply drop the matter. At the same time, the Ohtani story continues to generate conversation and interest, she says, and there are more details to come. “We were able to get a lot of new reporting that people had never heard before,” she says, and were able to expand the story by examining what impact the rise of betting was having on sports culture.
One of the people who appears on the podcast is Matthew Bowyer, a bookmaker who ran an illegal gambling business – sports betting remains illegal in California – and counted Mizuhara among his customers. Bowyer “will explain how he did it,” says Thompson, “how he attracted millionaire customers, where he went to look for them, how he lured them in and how he lured them to his sportsbooks, how he kept them in the loop even though they were overwhelmed.” Listeners will also hear from one of the investigators on the case, says Thompson, “the first time that people who actually know firsthand what happened will talk about what they saw and why they came to the conclusions they did.”
She also hopes that people who follow her story understand how hard she and her ESPN colleagues have worked to ensure they present factual material and not idle chatter. “I’m not interested in rumors. I’m interested in presenting source information,” says the journalist. “This was a very challenging story. Investigative reporting is difficult, and that’s partly because it affects people’s lives and reputations.”
This program also offers space for the offbeat. Listeners learn of a connection between Bowyer and one of the players on “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” Ryan Boyajian. Boyajian, then-fiancé of Jennifer Pedranit, was apparently wired money to Ohtani. According to ESPN reports, Boyajian received immunity in exchange for his testimony.
The story continues to generate interest, says Thompson, who notes that she gets asked questions about it when she goes to the dentist or stands on the sidelines at children’s sporting events. “That’s all they want to talk to me about.” This new investigation into the Ohtani money scandal could stimulate further discussion.
https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/espn-shohei-ohtani-money-scandal-podcast-tisha-thompson-1236816212/
