A new precedent that has entered mainstream media is sports gambling. The level of access sportsbooks have during the typical fan’s consumption is starting to become borderline exhausting. These sportsbooks want as much money as they can get, and they do not care how they receive it. The level of influence does not just rub off on fans, as we also saw with former NBA player Jontay Porter; it can persuade them as well.
The MLB faced its first public gambling scenario with a player since baseball legend Pete Rose when the league announced they would be giving former Padres player Tucupita Marcano a lifetime ban and suspending other individuals. The other four who were suspended for a year and did not appeal included Oakland Athletics reliever Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers: Jose Rodriguez, pitcher Andrew Saalfrank, and pitcher Jay Groome.
Marcano received a lifetime ban because of his egregious gambling. After tearing his ACL in July last year and missing most of the season, the infielder had more than enough time to cook up parlays. After the MLB’s joint investigation with a sports betting operator, it was revealed that he spent over $150,000 across nearly 400 baseball bets. He often bet on his team at times; however, it was revealed that he won an estimated 4.3% of his MLB-related bets. The MLB released a statement that you can read below.
“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people. Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, we have worked with licensed sports betting operators and other third parties to put ourselves in a better position from an integrity perspective through the transparency that a regulated sports betting system can provide. MLB will continue to invest heavily in integrity monitoring, educational programming, and awareness initiatives with the goal of ensuring strict adherence to this fundamental rule of our game.”
