On-Screen Sports Betting Could Be Coming To Major League Baseball BroadcastsCommissioner Rob Manfred Talks About Future Of League Gambling |
|
aaa.jpg)
Legalized sports betting has swept across the country over the last few years with more than two-thirds of U.S. states now offering licensed and regulated wagering. For baseball fans, that could soon mean placing wagers right on screen during a broadcast.
“I see that at some point coming as an alternate digital product,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said recently on the Marchand and Ourand Podcast. “You’re always going to have that clean broadcast. If we get there to betting off the screen, it’s going to be a separate digital feed that the true gambler can opt-in to.”
Betting Via Remote Control
Several leagues have gotten on the sports wagering bandwagon since the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PAPSA) in 2018. The law had previously created a virtual federal ban on almost all sports betting outside Nevada.
MLB has existing deals with DraftKings and FanDuel as the league’s official sports betting partners.
Manfred sees betting as a way to engage even more with fans. This year’s new rules to speed up play and adding more scoring has already paid dividends this season with increased attendance across the league.
The commissioner believes the interactivity of sports betting, including eventually being able to wager on screen through broadcasts, only adds to those efforts.
“From day 1, we had two thoughts with respect to sports betting,” Manfred said on the podcast, which is hosted by the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand and Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand. “No. 1, we thought the principal benefit of sports betting for us was going to be fan engagement. Deeper, more consistent fan engagement.
“Secondly, we are a family product. We have tried to be cautious about the concept of ‘over-gamblification’ — too much gambling in too many places in the sport. We think we have struck a balance there where we are getting some of the engagement boost without creating the potential of alienating the family audience.”
The Future Of On-Screen Betting
The MLB wouldn’t be the first sports entity offering on-screen wagering. The horse racing industry has offered this type of betting for several years in some states including through the TVG network, now known as FanDuel TV.
DAZN network has also offered on-screen live betting as well. Other leagues have shown interest and some online platforms are moving in that direction. The NFL announced a partnership with Genius Sports this week on the new BetVision platform.
Gaming companies can offer the service and bettors can watch NFL games on BetVision while wagering. Caesars Sportsbook and Fanatics have already gotten on board to offer the service. MLB looks to be heading in a similar direction.
“I think our goal overall is to get as close as we can to allowing our fans to watch on whatever platforms they want to watch on,” Manfred said.
Copyright © 2001-2025
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
