Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has reiterated his earlier statements that the professional sports organization is opposed to the expansion of sports betting beyond Nevada. 

In a conversation this week with The Dallas Morning News prior to this weekend's MLB All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, which hosts the Texas Rangers, Manfred expressed that professional baseball was against the US Supreme Court ruling from May 2018. 

The pivotal ruling overturned the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) enacted in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush, which restricted single-game sports wagering to Nevada. The Silver State was included in the law because casinos were already conducting such sports betting activities at that time.

"We went to the Supreme Court trying to stop sports betting in New Jersey,” Manfred said in reference to New Jersey’s legal challenge that PASPA violated anti-commandeering interpretations of the US Constitution. “Once you had the Supreme Court decision, I don’t see it going backward.”

The landmark decision allowed states to determine the legality of sports gambling within their territories. Just over six years later, 38 states along with Washington, DC, have implemented regulations for sports betting. 

Integrity is Essential 

Since 2018, various significant betting scandals have shaken MLB, particularly one linked to the prominent superstar Shohei Ohtani, whose interpreter embezzled funds to place sports bets. Manfred states that no matter is more crucial than safeguarding the game's integrity and preventing outside influences from corrupting the diamond.

"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.

Nonetheless, Manfred recognized that it has become simpler to oversee sports betting to identify unusual behavior that might suggest a game is being manipulated or a player is involved in a scheme to produce a specific result. 

“In the era when all sports betting was illegal, it was impossible to monitor. Now, because sports betting is legal, we have extensive monitoring in place,” Manfred explained.

The commissioner noted that this oversight assisted the league in identifying multiple incidents this year where individuals banned from participating in sports betting according to league regulations were involved. 

“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, seemingly forgetting about Pete Rose.

Peak Revenue 

MLB significantly impacted the legal sports betting sector, achieving an all-time high gross revenue of $10.92 billion last year, representing a 44.5% increase from the previous year. Gamblers wagered $119.8 billion through licensed and regulated sportsbooks. 

Wagering has been mentioned as enhancing fan involvement in both professional and collegiate sports. 

Regarding MLB, the league has announced a 2% rise in live attendance this year and television ratings have also increased. ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" has increased nearly 10% compared to 2023, while FS1 and MLB Network games have risen by 7% and 18%, respectively.