LAS VEGAS — The line between greed and ignorance is often blurred, with Major League Baseball providing another example this week when commissioner Rob Manfred directed a request to Nevada and other states to ban betting on spring training games.
At first, the report seemed fictional to some longtime bookmakers.
“It came out of the blue, that’s for sure,” said William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich, who offered “no idea” for what motivated the curious request.
Westgate SuperBook manager Jeff Sherman said, “I could only pause and laugh.”
MLB explained its odd stance in a statement that showed a failure to comprehend the protections built into legalized sports-betting markets. The statement included this line: “These games are not conducive to betting and carry heightened integrity risks, and states should not permit bookmakers to offer bets on them.”
The notion that legal wagering on exhibition contests leads to greater integrity risks is absurd. First of all, Nevada sportsbooks offer lower wagering limits on spring training baseball — $1,000 per side is the William Hill guideline — so the possibility of a fix is fantasy. It’s equally important to understand that prohibition would not stop betting, but would drive the action to underground or offshore bookmakers.
Bogdanovich said William Hill continues to book spring training games in all states in which it operates, with the exception of Pennsylvania, which received MLB’s request and ordered sportsbooks to stop action on spring baseball while the state examines the issue.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board responded to MLB in a statement that closed the issue with the speed of a Mariano Rivera cutter: “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.”
Since the Supreme Court decision last summer cleared the way for legal sports betting in states outside of Nevada, Manfred has led MLB’s efforts to seek a small cut of the books’ handles on baseball wagering. He also struck a deal for MGM Resorts to become the official gaming partner of MLB, following similar agreements MGM did with the NBA and NHL.
The leagues, which for years fought legal wagering and labeled it taboo, are now exploring ways to profit from the business by forming gaming partnerships and offering access to official data.
“This is the new world that we’re in,” said Robert Walker of Las Vegas-based US Bookmaking. “It’s all about money and control. If I never hear from the leagues again, I’ll be happy. The [leagues] are going to make out like bandits because of legalized sports wagering.”
Walker, a former book director for MGM Resorts, said Nevada bookmakers are offended by MLB and other leagues attempting to dictate how the gaming industry should operate.
“Stay in your lane,” Walker said. “I think [MLB] is just testing the waters. I was really happy with what Nevada Gaming Control said. The leagues want to talk about integrity. All we care about is integrity.
“You understand what you’re getting when you bet exhibitions. We have been booking baseball that way forever and never had a problem. It’s similar to the NFL preseason. I didn’t remember it ever being an issue.”
William Hill posted lines on 12 baseball games Thursday, and Bogdanovich said the money trickled in by way of small wagers and parlays. Accepting action on spring training games is not essential to a sportsbook’s bottom line.
“It’s not a lot,” Bogdanovich said, “but it’s every day and at the end of a 30-day cycle it does add up.”
Nevada’s immediate denial of MLB’s request to ban betting on spring exhibitions is about drawing battle lines, setting precedents and understanding why the request was clueless and foolish.
“Besides the obvious overreach of the leagues telling bookmakers how to run their business, why cede a market, in this case spring training games, to illegal bookmakers and offshores?” said veteran Las Vegas oddsmaker Michael “Roxy” Roxborough. “Legalization was an attempt to marginalize illegal operations, not prop them up.”
Be the first to comment