By the end of the Phillies season last year, most of the seats in the lower deck of Citizens Bank Park were packed with fans. Alas, those thousands of fans were cardboard cutouts, not flesh-and-blood fans. They didn’t buy hot dogs and beer. They didn’t buy peanuts and Cracker Jacks.
And with the prospects for 2021 still iffy, is it any wonder that MLB teams turn to other sources of revenue? The Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs turned to sports betting.
On January 11, the Nationals broke the news that they have signed an exclusive partnership with sportsbook BetMGM. The deal includes a retail sportsbook adjacent to Nationals Park. Last September, the Cubs made a similar move with DraftKings.
Sounds like a viable plan for some of the other 28 teams.
“MLB is promoting these relationships,” said economist Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College professor. “If more people are betting, more people are watching, and that raises TV revenue. It would also enable teams to raise ticket prices, depending on when fans are allowed back into stadiums. One of the things sports leagues are contending with is the proliferation of the internet and all different types of entertainment sources. There is more competition than ever before.”
For most teams, establishing a partnership requires the legalization of sports betting in their state. California has yet to take that step which means the Padres, Angels, Dodgers and Giants cannot follow the lead of the Nationals and Cubs. Neither can the Mets and Yankees until New York State approves mobile sports betting.
And while some might consider the Black Sox scandal more than a century ago as ancient history, the past still raises ethical and moral issues, according to Forbes. The scandal resulted in eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox receiving lifetime bans for trying to throw the World Series. Pete Rose also got a lifetime ban for betting on games, including those for the Cincinnati Reds, the team he managed and played for.
After the 2018 Supreme Court ruling which overturned the sports betting ban, former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent suggested the appointment of a gambling commissioner to prevent such integrity issues.
