As more and more MLB players and teams saddle up to sports betting sponsorships, the head of its players’ union, Tony Clark, wants to pump the brakes a little before things get out of hand.
“We’re entering a very delicate and, dare I say, dangerous world here,” said Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).
Clark’s assertion before the Baseball Writers’ Association of America should be enough to make ball players and their enthusiastic fan base quake in their boots. It certainly doesn’t seem to rattle teams or the game’s commissioner. And the silence to date from players is deafening.
Clark’s concern lies in the growing number of pacts between pro baseball and sportsbooks, according to Covers.
“We hope that it is truly beneficial for our game moving forward and that everyone who is involved benefits from it in one fashion or another. But when you have players suggest that no sooner was PASPA repealed (the 2018 Supreme Court decision that opened the door for U.S. states to legalize sports betting), that they started to have book houses following them on social media, that gets you a little twitchy pretty quick.”
However, Clark’s reservations did not stop a July 12 agreement between MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLBPA, and MGM Resorts, which owns half of online sportsbook BetMGM. According to the terms, MGM Resorts can access “MLB Players’ group rights across a broad range of print and digital promotions, advertisements and sweepstakes in the U.S., China and Japan,” a press release said.
Players may be able to enter into agreements as individual ambassadors on behalf of MGM in a variety of ways, such as in-person appearances, social media promotions, or autographs.
“We welcome the opportunity to host MLB Players at our world-class resorts and create unique player experiences for our valued MGM Rewards members,” said Lance Evans, MGM Resorts’ senior vice president of sports and sponsorships, in the release.
Major League Baseball expanded an existing partnership with MGM Resorts and BetMGM that keeps the latter as an official sports betting partner.
Back in April, MaximBet carved out an agreement with Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon, who became the first active player to endorse a sportsbook. His role will include marketing campaigns, fan events, promotions, and social media content. (One critical aspect of the new collective bargaining agreement is that Blackmon and all MLB players are prohibited from both promoting and betting on baseball games.)
According to Evan Kaplan, MLBPI’s managing director, his group is engaged in active discussions with casinos and sportsbooks about potential partnerships now that MLB players are allowed to enter into such corporate agreements under terms of the new CBA signed in March.
“One of the objectives in the current CBA was to open up gambling sponsorship opportunities for players,” Kaplan added, according to Sports Business Journal.
DraftKings is building a sportsbook scheduled to open next year at Wrigley Field, home to the Chicago Cubs, while across town the Chicago White Sox made Caesars Entertainment the team’s exclusive casino partner.
You can’t blame MLB or Clark for any apprehension. The Black Sox Scandal of 1919 is a constant reminder.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has been a champion of deepening ties between sportsbooks and baseball as well.
“We see it primarily as a form of increasing fan engagement,” Manfred said. “It’s an additional way for our fans to interact with the game.”
