MLB’s betting partners to limit some prop bets
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This is a problem that really should have been foreseen preemptively, but this is a quicker response than I expected:
The day after two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged with setting up rigged bets on individual pitches, Major League Baseball announced that its betting company partners would limit this specific kind of bet, which the league said is more liable to manipulation.
The changes, which are to be implemented across the sportsbooks that compose nearly all of the legal sports betting market in the United States, include a new $200 limit for bets on individual pitches. They also will ban the inclusion of pitches in parlay bets, which combine wagers for longer odds, but a larger potential payout.
Rob Manfred, the M.L.B. commissioner, described these changes in a statement as “a national solution to address the risks posed by these pitch-level markets, which are particularly vulnerable to integrity concerns.”
He added: “We look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders, including licensed sports betting operators, elected officials and regulators, to ensure we are always protecting the integrity of our game.”
The idea here is presumably that sharply limiting the bets and payouts means that it any attempt at getting a payout that would make a fixing scheme worthwhile would immediately attract attention. Given that individual propositions are the most likely sources of fixing — you don’t need collusion or for players to agree to play to lose games — I think at a minimum limits like this should be much more widespread.
In the 2024 postseason, Emmanuel Clase — one of the suspended pitchers, and normally one of the most dominant closers in baseball — gave up a tidy 8 runs in 8 mostly high leverage innings, losing 2 games. Most likely this is just a small sample size coincidence, but if it makes people wonder this is exactly the potential threat that embracing widespread sports betting can pose to the sport.