Major League Baseball has formed a close relationship with gambling companies over the years, to a point that it has become integrated into the game day experience during broadcasts.
At the same time, MLB has also seen former Cleveland Guardians teammates Emmanuel Clase and Luis L. Ortiz indicted by prosecutors for their roles in an alleged scheme to rig bets on individual pitches thrown during games.
The United States Department of Justice charged each player with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and money laundering conspiracy.
MLB is not alone in this regard, as the NFL and NBA have also had their own gambling scandals.
Now, the league is considering a partnership with prediction markets, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN:
Owners were briefed this week at their quarterly meetings about the possibility of partnering with Polymarket and Kalshi, federally regulated markets that allow wagering in an endless array of areas, including sports. MLB’s partnerships with sports gambling companies give it access to the sort of data that tied Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase and starter Luis Ortiz to irregular betting patterns last year and wound up in their arrests.
This partnership would send the opposite message that MLB should be promoting in the wake of the recent gambling scandal, as Kalshi and Polymarket come with their own ethical issues.
But MLB commissioner Rob Manfred believes the federally regulated nature of prediction markets makes them different than gambling companies:
“We thought it was important for the owners to be updated on why prediction markets are different than sports betting — why we might want to consider being in be business with prediction markets in an effort to protect our integrity, to get the kind of protections we need,” Manfred said. “The regulatory framework, very different. Obviously state by state on the sports betting side, federal on the other.”
It’s worth noting that these prediction markets face questions about their legality, with critics describing them as unlicensed or unregulated gambling.
MLB confident new limits betting limits will deter future player manipulation
In response to recent misconduct, all MLB authorized gaming operators will cap wagers at $200 on pitch-level markets and exclude those bets from parlays. The new measures are intended to mitigate integrity risks, and maintain transparency and data access benefits that the regulated sports betting market provides.
Manfred is happy with the steps that were taken to prevent this kind of activity going forward and said the league will proceed under the current rules in place.
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