Major League Baseball Didn’t Want Legalized Betting Outside Nevada, Says Commissioner Rob Manfred

Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred claims his sport didn’t want sports betting outside of Nevada.

In an interview with The Dallas Morning News ahead of the All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, Manfred said pro baseball opposed the overturning of the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that restricted legalized wagering to Nevada.

Baseball has long been wary of gambling affecting the game’s integrity. The sport suffered gambling incidents as far back as 1919, when players on the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing World Series games. More recently, the sport saw gambling incidents result in a lifetime ban of all-time hits leader Pete Rose, and a murky scandal involving Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and his interpreter.

“Once you had the Supreme Court decision, I don’t see it going backward,” said Manfred.

Now, 38 states and Washington, D.C. have regulated sports betting.

“It’s important to say that our number one issue, the single thing on which there is no compromise, is the integrity of the game on the field,” Manfred said.

The commissioner said monitoring of various betting activities helped the league detect several incidents this year involving people prohibited from being associated with the gam.

“Our ability to monitor is one of the positives that comes with legalization. In the old days, you didn’t have gambling scandals. It didn’t mean they didn’t have gambling. You just didn’t know about it,” Manfred stated.

MLB has reported a 2% increase in live attendance this year, with ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball up almost 10% from 2023, while games on FS1 and MLB Network are up 7% and 18%, respectively.