The user used internal controls to adjust his lineup after they were supposed to be locked
A SportsHub Games Network employee was fired this week after an investigation found that he had cheated in a fantasy football contest on the company's website with a six-figure grand prize.
In a fantasy format involving NFL playoff teams (the National Fantasy Football Championship), a user was able to change his lineups involving players that should have been locked while games were already in progress via internal controls. In fantasy, once a game starts, those players cannot be moved.
The player was able to switch out Raheem Mostert for Aaron Jones in the wild card round during the Dolphins game. Mostert rushed for 33 yards, while Jones went for 118 yards and three touchdowns.
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Closeup of footballs with the NFL logo seen on the sideline before the Los Angeles Rams play the Carolina Panthers at SoFi Stadium on October 16, 2022, in Inglewood, California. (John McCoy/Getty Images)
A week later, he was able to swap out Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice (8.7 points-per-reception points) for his teammate in Travis Kelce (24.5 PPR points) three minutes after Kelce's first touchdown against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round.
"Recently, with help from reporting by a public source, we successfully revealed a post-deadline move in one of our NFFC Post-Season Hold ‘Em contests that was detected and quickly confirmed, resulting in SportsHub being able to take immediate action to resolve the issue without any impact to the results of the contest," NFFC founder Greg Ambrosius wrote in the contest's forum page, via Rotogrinders.
A flag lays on the ground in front of the NFL logo during a game between the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers, November 26, 2023, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. (Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"As a result of its internal investigation, an employee was terminated, and a contest participant has been banned from further play on our platforms."
Over 1,500 people had entered the contest, which required a $200 buy-in.
"Nothing is more important than the integrity of a pay-to-play contest," Ambrosius told ESPN in a phone interview Thursday. "We have built up twenty-plus years of integrity through transparency and everything we've done. And by one action, it's put all of it in question. It's put me and everybody associated with our company in question."
NFL logo on the field before the game between the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts at Nissan Stadium on December 3, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. The Colts defeated the Titans 31-28. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
The user has been banned from the contest, which will continue.
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