MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred Says Sports Betting Was Forced On Baseball
Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, has reiterated his earlier remarks that the professional sports league opposed the spread of sports betting outside of Nevada.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News this week, Manfred stated that professional baseball was against the May 2018 US Supreme Court decision. This weekend's MLB All-Star Game will be held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers.
The historic ruling eliminated the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which President George H.W. Bush had signed into law in 1992 and which restricted sports betting on individual games to Nevada. Because casinos were operating these kinds of sports gambling activities at the time, the Silver State was grandfathered into the statute.
We went to the Supreme Court trying to stop sports betting in New Jersey,” Manfred said in reference to New Jersey’s legal challenge that PASPA violated anti-commandeering interpretations of the US Constitution. “Once you had the Supreme Court decision, I don’t see it going backward.”
The landmark decision gave states unprecedented authority to determine whether sports betting is permitted inside their boundaries. After a little over six years, sports betting is regulated in 38 states as well as Washington, DC.
Integrity First
MLB has seen a number of significant betting scandals since 2018. The most well-known of these involved Shohei Ohtani, one of the game's brightest talents, whose interpreter embezzled money to place sports bets. According to Manfred, maintaining the integrity of the game and preventing rogue influences from entering the diamond are the most crucial issues.
It’s important to say that our number one issue, the single thing on which there is no compromise, is the integrity of the game on the field,” Manfred said.
Manfred did concede, though, that it's now simpler to keep an eye on sports betting and see any unusual conduct that would indicate that a game is being rigged or that a player is conspiring to influence the outcome.
“In the era when all sports betting was illegal, it was impossible to monitor. Now, because sports betting is legal, we have extensive monitoring in place,” Manfred explained.
According to the commissioner, the league was able to identify multiple instances this year of individuals who were not allowed to wager on sports per league regulations thanks to this monitoring.
“Our ability to monitor is one of the positives that comes with legalization. In the old days, you didn’t have gambling scandals. It didn’t mean they didn’t have gambling. You just didn’t know about it,” Manfred stated, seemingly forgetting about Pete Rose.
Record Income
MLB contributed significantly to the legal sports betting market last year, setting a record with $10.92 billion in gross revenue—a 44.5% increase from the previous year. $119.8 billion was risked by bettors using authorized and regulated sportsbooks.
It has been suggested that betting raises interest in professional and collegiate sports among fans.
Regarding MLB, the league has stated that broadcast viewership is up and live attendance is up 2% this year. Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN is up nearly 10% from 2023, while MLB Network and FS1 games are up 18% and 7%, respectively.
