Baseball has been marginally successful in its efforts to pump excitement into the game, with such innovations as the pitch clock, the no-shift rule, and Shohei Ohtani. But what has really injected thrills into MLB games is gambling.
I’m watching a recent playoff game at a sports bar and on the screen flashes the message, “Will the Dodgers score in the seventh inning?” Along with the logo of MLB’s “official sports betting partner.”
By the way, “betting partner” is such a cool term. FanDuel isn’t a “sponsor,” or a massive corporate entity created to vacuum money out of the pockets of you and your children — it’s a partner.
