Category Archives: MLB

MLB asks Nevada not to accept spring training bets, state says no

Major League Baseball (MLB) is beginning to get into full swing. Training camps are active and spring training games have begun over the course of the past week. Always a hit with sports gamblers as they look to start the season strong, MLB would prefer that wagers not be allowed on training games and reached out to Nevada to see if the state’s sportsbooks would play along. The answer should be obvious.

MLB sent a letter to the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), asking it to take spring training games out of the sports gambling lineup. It argued that players typically don’t “perform at maximum effort on every single play,” which could “carry heightened integrity risks.” It added that the expansion of sports gambling across the country, following the demise of PASPA last year, has also opened the door to other “integrity risks” surrounding the games.

The league further explained, “Spring Training games are exhibition contests in which the primary focus of Clubs and players is to prepare for the coming season rather than to win games or perform at maximum effort on every single play. These games are not conducive to betting and carry heightened integrity risks, and states should not permit bookmakers to offer bets on them. Limited and historically in-person betting on Spring Training in one state did not pose nearly the same integrity risks that widespread betting on Spring Training in multiple states will pose.”

The NGCB probably thought about the request for all of two seconds (half of which was filled with laughter) before sending the league its response. It replied, “Based on our history and experience in regulating sports wagering, we are not inclined to prohibit our licensed sports books from taking wagers on MLB Spring Training games. We have a common goal to combat sports bribery and maintain the integrity of your sport, and are available to discuss ways we can work together in this effort.”

Red Sox favorites vs. Dodgers on 2018 World Series Prices

If someone were making a list of the marquee franchises in Major League Baseball in terms of history, success and worldwide popularity, the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers would have to be right at the top and perhaps only behind the New York Yankees.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Yet, the Red Sox and Dodgers franchises have met in the World Series just once: In 1916, the Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Robins in five games. That Boston team had a pretty good player by the name of Babe Ruth. He was primarily a pitcher then.

Just 102 years later, the Red Sox and Dodgers will meet again in the Fall Classic starting Tuesday with Boston a -165 favorite to win its ninth championship and first since 2013. Los Angeles (+135) came up one game short of a title last year against the Houston Astros and hasn’t won it all since 1988 – the Kirk Gibson World Series against the Oakland A’s.

Major League Baseball wants a piece of casino sports bets

Many professional sports leagues have argued that they deserve to receive a cut of all sports wagers as a form of “integrity fee” to ensure that gambling doesn’t ruin the sport. This idea has been scoffed at by many and casinos are no exception. During this week’s G2E (Global Gaming Expo) trade show in Las Vegas, a panel was held to discuss the hot-button topic of sportsbooks and sports leagues, with Major League Baseball (MLB) once again defending its position that the integrity fee is justified.

No one was as vocal as Kenny Gersh, MLB’s Executive VP of Gaming. He told casino executives that a small fee – 0.25% – is virtually a royalty that casinos should be willing to pay for making money off sports. He basically said it wouldn’t be fair not to charge the fee.

Gersh elaborated, “The state is going to designate these three, four, five very specific licensed entities: You guys get the right to make money from sports betting. From a fairness perspective we think, if you are going to designate someone to be able to make money off of what at the end of the day is our sport and our events because if the Yankees weren’t playing the Red Sox last night, you are not betting on the Yankees and the Red Sox … we think we should be involved in that.”

Gersh’s view of the situation was blasted by the American Gaming Association’s senior VP of public affairs, Sara Slane. She said, “I mean, look, you want a cut of the revenue without any of the risk that’s associated with it. That’s why we have to go through the regulatory process. We invest billions of dollars in buildings, in our licenses that cost us millions of dollars to go through. You want us to take that risk, pay you and then you are going to benefit on the back end as well … What you guys are proposing is not financially viable.”

Red Sox atop World Series odds heading into September

You can say two things for sure are true about Major League Baseball on September 1: Rosters expand and it’s the official start of the stretch run to the postseason. Thus, now is a great time to check out the updated World Series odds at sportsbooks.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

One quick aside about the rosters expanding: Expect most MLB games to take even longer than usual the rest of the way. That’s because managers can essentially use relievers, pinch-runners or pinch-hitters at will. It is a chance for fans of lousy teams to see potential young impact players ahead of next season. Some top prospects, though, will stay in the minors for service time/financial reasons.

The Boston Red Sox are the +333 favorites to win their fourth World Series since 2004 – before that, they hadn’t won a Fall Classic since 1918. The Sox should be favored because the have the best record in baseball, and thus home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, plus a top AL Cy Young candidate in Chris Sale and top AL MVP leader in J.D. Martinez.

American League dominates latest World Series odds

How ridiculously good is the American League at the top in 2018? And how ridiculously bad is the AL at the bottom? Well, the latter is a story for another day.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Never in MLB history has one league had three 100-win teams in a single season, but the Junior Circuit has three on pace to top triple digits this year: the Boston Red Sox (106 victories), Houston Astros (103) and New York Yankees (102).

Shoot, there could be a fourth in the AL as the Seattle Mariners had been on pace for 100 victories but fell off slightly right before the All-Star break. There have never been four teams overall in MLB history to win 100 games in a single season.

World series odds update: Yankees the June betting favorites

The New York Yankees have the best winning percentage in baseball as of this writing, so it’s no surprise that the Bombers are +500 favorites to win their first World Series title since 2009. Yet, the Yankees might not even win their own division – the Boston Red Sox are right there in the AL East – and they also clearly have some issues in the rotation.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The team recently lost young left-hander Jordan Montgomery, the No. 5 starter, to season-ending Tommy John surgery. Then, No. 2 starter Masahiro Tanaka injured both hamstrings running the bases – another argument for the NL adding the designated hitter as it happened during an interleague game – and will miss about a month.

As it was, the Yankees had questions in the rotation behind ace and All-Star Luis Severino. It’s all but a lock that New York will trade for a frontline starting pitcher, perhaps Texas’ Cole Hamels, as it has the need, the money and the prospects to do so. Now that we are into mid-June, trade talks should start heading up, with the non-waiver trade deadline July 31.

Major League Baseball to clubs, networks: no sports betting ads

Major League Baseball (MLB) has forbid its teams and their broadcast partners from accepting advertising from sports betting companies.

On Wednesday, New Jersey news outlet ROI-NJ reported on a June 8 memo that MLB’s deputy commissioner and chief legal officer Dan Halem sent to television and radio rights holders, reminding them that “they are presently not permitted to accept” advertising from sports betting operators.

Halem added that MLB clubs “may not at this time enter into any relationship with a pure sports book, or with a casino with a sports book to the extent that the arrangement involves sports betting.” Halem clarified that this week’s owners’ meeting would address how to develop “appropriate policies in this very complicated area.”

The memo appears to be in reaction to an advertising purchase by Dennis Drazin, head of the company that runs New Jersey racetrack Monmouth Park, which is scheduled to take the Garden State’s first legal sports wager at 10:30am on Thursday.

Slumping Diamondbacks still Leading NL West Division odds

What has happened to the Arizona Diamondbacks? They tied an MLB record with nine straight series wins to open the season, becoming the first National League team since the 1907 Chicago Cubs to accomplish that; the record-setting 2001 Seattle Mariners did it in the American League.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Following a 12-inning victory at the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 8, the Diamondbacks still hadn’t lost a series. They had the best record in the National League easily at 24-11 and led the NL West by 3.5 games. However, Arizona has won just one game since then and has coughed up the division lead to the Colorado Rockies.

Still, the Diamondbacks remain the +130 favorites to win the NL West, although those odds are much different from a few weeks ago. The Snakes’ slump has brought the five-time defending champion Dodgers (+300) very much back into play to win the West again. They were nine games back on May 8. The Rockies are +333 to win the West for the first time ever.

NL pennant odds update: Diamondbacks set as favorites

A lot can change in six weeks. Back on March 31, just a couple of days into the 2018 MLB season, the Los Angeles Dodgers were +300 favorites to repeat as NL pennant winners.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

That made sense, considering the Dodgers led the majors with 104 wins last season, were just one victory from winning the franchise’s first World Series since 1988 and brought essentially everyone of consequence back.

However, the season has not gone as planned for manager Dave Roberts’ team as it has been hammered by injuries to the likes of 2016 NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager (out for season), heart-and-soul All-Star third baseman Justin Turner (yet to play in 2018) and three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw (return date TBA).

AL pennant odds update: Astros leading Red Sox, Yankees

This decade, the National League has had the upper hand over the Junior Circuit in winning five of the eight World Series, but thus far in the 2018 season it appears that the American League could be the deeper overall league.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

That’s partly due to the three reigning divisions winners in the Senior Circuit (Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers) all mildly disappointing thus far.

The AL, meanwhile, has what appears to be four very good teams in the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels and defending World Series champion Houston Astros – and the Cleveland Indians figure to catch fire sooner rather than later with all their pitching.

MLB, NBA to sell stakes in daily fantasy ops DraftKings, FanDuel

Two American pro sports leagues are ditching their equity stakes in daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators DraftKings and FanDuel as the possibility of legal sports betting draws closer.

On Thursday, ESPN reported that Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association were in talks to unload their ownership stakes in DraftKings and FanDuel, respectively. It’s unknown how advanced these talks are or what type of payday the leagues are expecting.

The leagues and DFS operators insisted that the sell-offs weren’t acrimonious and that the parties would continue to work together to boost fan engagement and the like.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass said FanDuel has been a “great partner” but “the space is evolving and we saw the need to take a fresh look at the structure of our relationship.” MLB issued a statement obliquely referencing “potential changes to the structure of our relationship” with DraftKings, while insisting it would continue its “valued partnership” with the league’s official DFS operator.

Astros overtake the Dodgers on World Series odds

The old saying is that a team can’t clinch a playoff berth with a strong April, but it can essentially end its postseason chances with a horrid first month of baseball. Thus, you can probably write off struggling 2018 clubs like the Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres still competing in October. Not that they were ever expected to be very good.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Earlier this spring, the Los Angeles Dodgers were the +500 favorites to win the club’s first title since that Kirk Gibson/Orel Hershiser team in 1988 upset Oakland in the Fall Classic. The Dodgers have been uneven in the early going, however, and appear to miss All-Star third baseman Justin Turner more than most experts expected.

Los Angeles is too talented to keep struggling much longer and is still at +500 on those MLB futures but is now trailing the team that beat it in the 2017 World Series, the Houston Astros (+425).

MLB wants a slice of sports betting revenue in Kansas, too

Lawmakers are setting their sights on the multi-million dollar potential of sports betting business in Kansas—and so is the Major League Baseball.

The Associated Press reported that a bill seeking to legalize sports betting in state-owned casinos, over the internet and with mobile apps, has been introduced before the House Federal and State Affairs Committee this week, in anticipation that the Supreme Court will lift the federal ban on sports wagering.

But even before the bill was scrutinized by House committee members, MLB made its presence felt by saying that it wants to partake some of the revenues that Kansas will get from the sports betting business.

Aside from the revenue, MLB Senior Vice President Bryan Seeley said they also want casinos to share their sports betting data with the league in a bid to prevent game fixing in future sporting events.

MLB division odds roundup: Indians among futures favorites

The Cleveland Indians had a disappointing finish to their 2017 campaign, dropping three straight games to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series to bow out of the playoffs earlier than expected coming off their first World Series appearance since 1997.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

However, this year the Indians are back as huge -650 favorites to win their third AL Central title in a row.

The lack of competition in the AL Central should give Cleveland an edge to return to the postseason, as the Minnesota Twins were the only other club in the division with a winning record last season. The Twins are the +350 second choice and surprisingly made the playoffs as a Wild Card in 2017 before falling to the Yankees as well.

2018 MLB win totals: Astros boast top total in American League

Coming off their best year in franchise history, it is no surprise to see the defending World Series champion Houston Astros as the American League team with the highest Over/Under Win Total heading into 2018 at the sportsbooks.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Astros went 101-61 last season, posting their second-most wins ever after going 102-60 exactly two decades ago. But last year they capped off another remarkable campaign with their first-ever World Series title, prompting oddsmakers to set their O/U Win Total at an MLB-best 96.5.

Only the National League’s Los Angeles Dodgers have a Win Total as high at 96.5, and it is no coincidence that they played Houston in last year’s World Series. However, two other AL teams have Win Totals nearly as high as the Astros at 94.5 – the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees. Both Cleveland and New York are expected to challenge Houston for the pennant if they can live up to the preseason hype.

NBA, MLB insist on 1% cut of sports betting handle

The National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball continue to press their demand for a 1% cut of legal sports betting handle, despite nearly every other stakeholder deriding the plan as unworkable.

Monday brought committee hearings into West Virginia legislators’ plans to be ready in case the US Supreme Court strikes down the federal sports betting prohibition. Legislators are considering a bill that would allow the state’s five casino operators to offer sports betting under the oversight of the West Virginia Lottery Commission.

The legislation could come up for a floor vote on Friday, but the NBA and MLB are doing their best to derail the vote, based on the leagues’ belief that they deserve a 1% cut of all wagers placed on their respective sports. This ‘integrity fee’ has been widely slammed as an overly generous slice of what is an extremely low-margin business.

Speaking at Monday’s hearing on behalf of both the NBA and MLB, attorney Scott Ward claimed the leagues would use their slice of betting handle to monitor for betting activity for suspicious patterns and to enforce bans on their players making wagers. The leagues also want to require betting operators to use league-provided data for live betting.

Iowa sports betting bill draws NBA, MLB ire

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB) aren’t happy with the latest sports betting measure in Iowa.

The Des Moines Register reported that the NBA and MLB opposed a bill seeking to legalize sports betting in Iowa in the event the Supreme Court declares the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) unconstitutional.

The major sports leagues aren’t actually opposing the bid of the state to legalize sports betting, per se. The problem lies with so-called “integrity fee” provision of the bill.

The NBA and the MLB both pointed out that the House Study Bill 592 fell short on safety nets that will protect the integrity of sports betting. Reading between lines, the Iowa Gaming Association said that the NBA and the MLB are demanding for major league sports fees.

Indiana bill would give sports leagues 1% of betting handle

A new sports betting bill in Indiana is proof that (a) politicians are clueless about gambling, and (b) sports leagues are evil.

Monday saw Indiana Rep. Alan Morrison make good on last week’s promise to introduce legislation to legalize sports betting – including online and mobile wagering – by the state’s licensed gaming operators, provided the US Supreme Court takes a knife to the federal prohibition on single-game wagering outside Nevada.

However, ESPN’s David Purdum reported that Morrison’s HB 1325 contains an “integrity fee” of 1% of total betting handle, in addition to the 9.25% tax on sportsbook revenue. (A companion bill in the state senate contains the same tax rate but makes no mention of the integrity fee.)

The 1% fee would go to ‘sports governing bodies,’ an apparent reference to the professional sports leagues on whose product the books would be taking action. The fee is supposedly intended to assist these bodies in combatting the alleged onslaught of match-fixing that anti-gambling killjoys claim will follow betting legalization.

Astros listed as small favorites to repeat as World Series Champs

Based on future odds set by sportsbooks, we may see a rematch of the 2017 World Series between the American League’s Houston Astros and National League’s Los Angeles Dodgers. The defending World Series champion Astros are +500 betting favorites to repeat in 2018, with the Dodgers right behind them at +550.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Houston is coming off a thrilling seven-game World Series win over Los Angeles, the second to go the distance in as many years and third in the previous four. With some of the best young talent in baseball in second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Carlos Correa plus two top starting pitchers in Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander, the Astros seem poised to repeat as AL pennant winners as well.

Verlander’s arrival from the Detroit Tigers in a late-season trade put them over the top for their playoff run, and his current contract will keep him in Houston three more years through 2020.