52. New York Rangers Criticize Player Safety Call

Year of Fine: 2017
Est. Fine Total: $100,000*
Finding a way to get the upper hand in professional sports is sometimes the difference between continuing as the head coach of a team or spending the year sitting on a couch waiting for a call that might never come. To get that advantage, the New York Yankees turned their attention to the phone in their dugout.

New York Rangers Criticize Player Safety Call ©Bruce Bennett /Getty Images
Oh no, they weren’t ordering DMZ pizza in the Yankees dugout. The coaches relayed opponents’ signs to one another from the bullpen to the dugout. Considering the Houston Astros were fined $5 million a few years later for a similar scandal, it seems like the Yankees got off easy, paying a fine of just $100,000 for getting caught cheating.

53. John Henry Takes Shots At Major League Baseball

Year of Fine: 2014
Est. Fine Total: $500,000*
It’s never a good idea for a professional sports team owner to criticize the league their team is part of. Boston Red Sox owner John Henry learned this lesson the hard way, but not until 5 years after his 2009 comments about Major League Baseball’s competitive balance.

John Henry Takes Shots At Major League Baseball ©Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images
Henry’s $4 billion net worth would have been a half million dollars higher had he been able to keep his opinions to himself. Then again, he did have a valid point. If his encounter with MLB taught him anything, John Henry learned free speech is anything but free.

54. Danny Ainge Throws In The Towel

Year of Fine: 2010
Est. Fine Total: $25,000*
Boston Celtics legend Danny Ainge is a 2x NBA champion who didn’t know what it meant to throw in the towel during his playing days. Upon retirement, Ainge took that winning spirit with him to the position of Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations. In a 2010 playoff game against the Cavs, intentional or not, Ainge’s competitiveness cost him $25,000.

Danny Ainge Throws In The Towel ©Ethan Miller/Getty Images
For tossing a towel in the air while a Cavs player was in the midst of taking his second of two free throws, Danny Ainge was called for causing “an unauthorized distraction for conduct detrimental to the game.” You can add towel-tossing to the ever-growing list of fineable conduct.

55. Barry Hall Punches Above His Weight

Year of Fine: 2008
Est. Fine Total: $100,000+*
The AFL (Australian Football League) isn’t very well known in North America, but it has scandals and controversial athletes just like any other sport. If you think checking from behind or hitting a defenseless receiver is bad, you’ll never believe what Barry Hall of the Sydney Swans did to West Coast Eagles’ Brent Stakes in 2008. To paraphrase popular Darwin-based Aussie musician Jaxon De Santis, “He damn-near killed the bloke.”

Barry Hall Punches Above His Weight ©Adam Pretty/Pinterest
Hall sucker-punched an unknowing and defenseless Staker after a play had ended, sending him to the ground unconscious. The penalty: just a seven-week unpaid suspension, totaling approximately $100,000 in lost salary.

56. Mark Cuban Can’t Keep His Mouth Shut

Year of Fine: 2006
Est. Fine Total: $250,000*
Being the billionaire owner of a professional sports team comes with its perks. You get to watch team practices, mingle with the athletes, and sit courtside every game. If you don’t like something about a player or coach, you can ship them out of town. However, you can’t verbally abuse league officials or the commissioner and expect to get away scot-free.

Mark Cuban Can’t Keep His Mouth Shut ©Michael Reaves/Getty Images
During Game 5 of the 2006 Finals, Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban stormed the court to give one of the refs a piece of his mind. Then, at the post-game press conference, he proceeded to scream obscenities at then-commissioner David Stern. Breaking two of the NBA’s sacred laws cost Cuban $250,000. But he’d probably do it all again if given the chance.

57. Everyone Can Have “Big Cajones,” Except Andray Blatche

Year of Fine: 2013
Est. Fine Total: $15,000*
Celebrating pivotal moments in a match is one of the best feelings a player can have. Likewise, rubbing those moments in the faces of one’s opponents is sometimes equally as satisfying. That brings us to an NBA game in 2013 between the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat in which Andrey Blatche of the Nets made a gesture that cost him $15,000.

Everyone Can Have “Big Cajones” Except Andray Blatche ©Claus Andersen/Getty Images
Blatche gave the NBA world the now-infamous “Big Cajones” gesture after his teammate Joe Johnson hit the 3-point shot that put the Nets ahead for good in the game. Several players have referenced the size of their marbles in gestures since that day, but no others have faced the league’s wrath as Blatch did.

58. Bernard Tomic’s Lack Of Effort Lands Him A Massive Fine

Year of Fine: 2019
Est. Fine Total: $80,000*
Part of being a professional athlete is giving it your all every time you play, no matter what. In Wimbledon 2019’s opening round, the effort Aussie Bernard Tomic put into his performance was more than lackluster. It was in question. The result of the match was all the ATP needed to begin an investigation into Tomic’s play.

Bernard Tomic’s Lack Of Effort Lands Him A Massive Fine @wimbledon/Pinterest
It took Jo-Wilfried Tsonga just 58 minutes to thrash Bernard Tomic in three straight sets. The 58-minute match was the shortest in Wimbledon history, and the ATP decided Bernard was “not playing up to the required standards” and fined him his prize-winning for the tournament — $80,000.

59. Eddie DeBartolo Jr. Gets Caught In A Gambling Scandal

Year of Fine: 1999
Est. Fine Total: $1 Million*
In most cases, professional sports leagues hold back fining players, coaches, or owners until proof of guilt has been established. Individuals like former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. make things a lot easier when they plead guilty and forego a lengthy, drawn-out trial.

Eddie DeBartolo Jr. Gets Caught In A Gambling Scandal ©Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
DeBartolo Jr. pled guilty to participating in a Louisiana-based gambling scandal in 1999. Aside from dealing with the legal side of the felony charge against him, the NFL also fined the junior DeBartolo $1 million. Lesson learned, Eddie, crime doesn’t pay.

60. Vladimir Radmanovic Breaks No-Snowboarding Clause

Year of Fine: 2007
Est. Fine Total: $500,000*
History has shown that the penalty for getting caught attempting to cover up his wrongdoing is usually steeper than if the culprit had fessed up and come clean, to begin with. While playing for the Lakers, big man Vladimir Radmanovic missed two months of a season with an injury he acquired performing basketball activities…or did he?

Vladimir Radmanovic Breaks No-Snowboarding Clause ©Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons
Eventually, the truth came out. Radmanovic had separated his shoulder snowboarding on an off day. Vladimir kept this a secret from his team because of a no-snowboarding clause that was worked into his contract. Breaking the contract was one thing. Lying to his team was another. A $500,000 fine and a short Lakers career were his rewards for lying.

61. Ryan Clark Coughs Up $5,000 For Paying Tribute To A Fallen Friend

Year of Fine: 2008
Est. Fine Total: $5,000*
In 2008, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark was fined for wearing the number 21 on his eye black to pay tribute to his former Washington Redskins teammate Sean Taylor. The NFL fined him $5,000 for violating its dress code policy.

Ryan Clark Coughs Up $5,000 For Paying Tribute To A Fallen Friend ©Al Messerschmidt / Getty Images
By fining Clark for simply wearing a number over his eye black, the NFL put all players and coaches on notice. Uniform modifications, no matter how touching or emotional the reasoning behind them is, will not be tolerated unless done by the league.