{"id":337129,"date":"2025-12-08T15:14:04","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/337129\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:14:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T15:14:04","slug":"advocates-say-addiction-question-unresolved-by-mlb-prop-bet-limit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/337129\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates say addiction question unresolved by MLB prop bet limit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal authorities indicted Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz<\/a> in November on charges they conspired with bettors to throw certain pitches outside the strike zone, ensuring large payouts to gamblers who had tens of thousands of dollars riding on those outcomes. Both pitchers have pleaded not guilty<\/a>. Days later, MLB and the country\u2019s largest sportsbooks agreed to the new $200 cap on wagers on individual pitches.<\/p>\n

MLB said the cap, along with a ban on including such wagers in parlays \u2014 which are essentially a series of linked prop bets \u2014 will protect the integrity of the sport<\/a> by reducing the incentive for players to deliberately throw their performance.<\/p>\n

Harry Levant, director of gambling policy at Northeastern University\u2019s Public Health Advocacy Institute<\/a>, said the betting limit is designed primarily to protect the business model for the league, which sells statistical data to sportsbooks, and the gambling industry, which is on the hook for big payouts from rigged plays.<\/p>\n

Levant, a recovering gambling addict, said the limit still allows bettors to quickly lose large amounts of money on microbets.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsider 20 pitches per half inning. People can lose $4,000 per half and $8,000 per inning. With a nine-inning game, that is $72,000 per game,\u201d he said. \u201cWith 15 games most nights, people can lose nearly $900,000 each night\u201d just on pitch-by-pitch prop bets.<\/p>\n

Sports betting industry representatives pushed back, calling the criticism a red herring. The new limits weren\u2019t designed to deal with problem gaming, which the industry does in other ways, they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that we recognize this as an integrity-focused initiative, separating it from the robust customer protection programs operators have instituted that empower customers to manage their play through tools and allow them to identify and intervene when a customer may be experiencing harm,\u201d said Conor Yunits, spokesperson for the Sports Betting Alliance.<\/p>\n

Stephen Miraglia, a spokesperson for Boston-based DraftKings, one of the two largest sportsbooks in the country, emphasized that sportsbooks are better positioned to expose rigged play because the industry is legal and regulated. That wasn\u2019t possible when gambling operated in the shadows, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike the pre-legalization era \u2014 when integrity threats were far more difficult to detect \u2014 the regulated environment provides increased oversight and accountability, enabling the identification of potentially suspicious activity,\u201d Miraglia said. \u201cSeparately, our mission is to provide an entertaining gaming environment that players can enjoy responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n

DraftKings provides players with responsible gaming tools, information, and resources<\/a> while using technology to \u201cdetect signs of potentially problematic behavior, allowing our team to proactively engage with players where appropriate,\u201d Miraglia said.<\/p>\n

FanDuel, DraftKings\u2019 top competitor, echoed the argument that protecting sports integrity and protecting gamblers are separate matters. Spokesperson Alex Pitocchelli pointed to tools the sports betting company uses to identify and slow down people who are gambling more than usual, such as analyzing how much time they spend on the site or how many bets they make in the wake of losses.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce flagged, individuals are reviewed manually by a team of trained professionals (a team of approximately 30) who have set criteria to determine if a customer is at risk of gambling harm,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts lawmakers are considering banning all forms of prop bets,<\/a> which range from microbets \u2014 say, on the speed of a pitch, who will score the next basket, or whether the next snap will be a run or a pass \u2014 to bets on an individual player\u2019s performance or whether the game will go to overtime.<\/p>\n

These kinds of bets are big moneymakers for the sportsbooks, particularly when bundled together into same-game parlays. DraftKings executives have consistently told investors those same-game parlays are important revenue boosters, according to the company\u2019s investor presentations and calls<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Levant and the Public Health Advocacy Institute are advocating for the new restrictions, saying they would properly regulate a highly addictive product. The legislation is pending in the State House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joey Flechas can be reached at joey.flechas@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on X @joeflech<\/a>.<\/p>\n