After sliding head-first into the nation’s legalized sports-betting craze, Major League Baseball this week tried to send a serious message about players who bet on the games they play.
Whether slapping a lifetime ban on a young weak-hitting infielder with a bum leg and one-year suspensions on four even less well-known players will have the intended effect remains to be seen. But if headlines count for anything, the league’s move is generally being portrayed as a victory for responsibility shortly after a scandal landed surprisingly close to the league’s most famous player.
Add this week’s guilty plea in federal court in California by the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani and there’s reason to believe that professional baseball’s credibility may be on the mend.
But is it really time to move on? If only it were that simple.
In a statement Tuesday addressing the banishment of 23-year-old Venezuelan player Tucupita Marcano for violating the league’s gambling policy, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred certainly sounded serious.
“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans. The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people. Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, we have worked with licensed sports betting operators and other third parties to put ourselves in a better position from an integrity perspective through the transparency that a regulated sports betting system can provide. MLB will continue to invest heavily in integrity monitoring, educational programming and awareness initiatives with the goal of ensuring strict adherence to this fundamental rule of our game.”
Currently with the San Diego Padres, Marcano gambled while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Oakland A’s reliever Michael Kelly and minor-leaguers Jay Groome, José Rodriguez, and Andrew Saalfrank received one-year suspensions.
Meanwhile, former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara admitted he used his access to Ohtani’s bank account to steal at least $16 million from his former friend to feed a voracious sports-betting habit facilitated by Southern California illegal bookie and Las Vegas casino denizen Matt Bowyer. Agents with the IRS Criminal Investigation and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations have also uncovered a link between Bowyer and former Ohtani teammate David Fletcher.
The crush of this type of news wasn’t lost on ESPN reporter and betting expert Dave Purdum, who observed in a post on X, “Three of the top eight headlines on the front of ESPN.com are related to betting scandals.”
No one who understands the tectonic change that has taken place in the world of sports gambling in the U.S. and well beyond should expect such headlines to fade any time soon. In a letter published Sunday in The New York Times, famed sports agent Leigh Steinberg acknowledged the new reality for players.
“Some of the biggest scandals in sports history have revolved around players and gambling. Pete Rose is barred for life from baseball, in an agreement stemming from admissions of gambling. The Black Sox scandal, about a thrown World Series, is perhaps the most notorious sports debacle of all time.
“Yet in a rush to embrace the potential profits provided by new forms of legalized sports gambling, the professional sports leagues have put players and the people close to them under untenable pressure. I have represented professional athletes for 50 years and I have never seen a situation that’s more perilous to them and the integrity of sports.”
Nothing short of the future of the leagues themselves is at stake. Lose the confidence of the fans and you’ve lost everything. It all makes good sense.
Steinberg: “Pro sports depends on authenticity and credibility. Fans must believe that the games are fair and that each athlete is making the maximum effort to win. Any suggestion that the contests might be fixed or tainted will destroy the industry.”
Perhaps. But sports history is riddled with gambling players and betting scandals. That figures to dramatically increase now that widespread legalization has arrived.
I think it’s important to remember that the most recent baseball betting scandal was uncovered with the substantial assistance of a legal sportsbook. The Las Vegas sportsbook industry was a reliable source of information for leagues long before they embraced the lucrative sports gambling partnerships they now enjoy.
Meaningful regulation is more important than ever. Do you think the industry is up for it?
