Monday marked a monumental day in sports, as the United States Supreme Court voted 7-2 to overturn a longstanding federal ban on sports gambling on constitutional grounds. It opens the door for individual states to decide whether they want to legalize the practice.
Prior to this, the only state that was exempt from the ban was Nevada and seeing how popular sports gambling is in that state, many others will certainly follow suit and legalize it in theirs.
Because of how greatly this decision will affect their sport, Major League Baseball released the following statement on the matter, via Yahoo Sports:
“Today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court will have profound effects on Major League Baseball. As each state considers whether to allow sports betting, we will continue to seek proper protections for our sport, in partnership with other professional sports. Our most important priority is protecting the integrity of our games. We will continue to support legislation that creates air-tight coordination and partnerships between the state, the casino operators and the governing bodies in sports toward that goal.”
In addition to MLB, it’s Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark also released a statement, noting that safety and integrity for the players are the most important things to protect in the wake of this ruling, via MLBPA:
“The Court’s decision is monumental, with far-reaching implications for baseball players and the game we love. From complex intellectual property questions to the most basic issues of player safety, the realities of widespread sports betting must be addressed urgently and thoughtfully to avoid putting our sport’s integrity at risk as states proceed with legalization.”
MLB and the players will definitely want a percentage of all sports bets that take place on baseball, which could help protect the integrity of the game as players and coaches would not have to seek alternative options, i.e. Pete Rose.
There surely will be more changes to come within the sport and states begin going through with the legalization process in the next couple of years.
