League Commissioner Rob Manfred Claims MLB Has Been Pulled Into Legal Sports Betting
Baseball stadiums and their broadcasts feature a plethora of ads for sports betting companies and promotions, but Major League Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Robert Manfred claims that this wasn't necessarily the league's doing. He addressed this at the 2024 Associated Press Sports Editors Commissioners Meetings, where top officials from various sports associations discussed important matters regarding their respective sports.
During a conversation about recent sports betting scandals, such as the one involving Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani's interpreter who stole millions to illegally gamble on sports, Manfred said it wasn't baseball's intention to embrace sports betting. MLB found itself involved in the Christie/Murphy et al. v. NCAA et al. case, which reached the US Supreme Court. This case was a legal challenge by New Jersey that led to the overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), allowing states to make their own decisions on sports gambling.
Since this decision, nearly 40 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized gambling on professional and college sports.
Maintaining Game Integrity
During the height of the fight to keep single-game betting limited to Nevada, the NCAA and big four professional sports leagues were united in their efforts against it. However, once PASPA was overthrown in 2018, the leagues changed their stance and now endorse such wagering. Manfred recognizes that sports gambling has contributed to increased television and streaming ratings, as well as greater fan engagement.
To ensure the integrity of its games, MLB has put significant resources into monitoring compliance and integrity. However, a significant challenge lies in player props - bets that revolve around a single player's performance. Manfred believes that player props could jeopardize the integrity of MLB, as a lesser-known player might be more easily persuaded to skew their performance to satisfy a bettor who risked a substantial amount of money on that prop and then share in the profits with the player.
Legalizing sports betting, according to Manfred, makes it simpler for the league to monitor suspicious betting activity. To date, no MLB player has been discovered or accused of throwing a game.
Embracing Sports Betting
Though MLB may have been dragged into the sports betting case, the league has wholeheartedly embraced it since 2018. Most teams now have official betting partners, as does MLB itself. Soon after the Supreme Court's 2018 decision, MLB signed its first industry deal with MGM Resorts, making it their official gaming partner. They also named FanDuel and DraftKings as their two "official sports betting partners."
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Source: www.casino.org
