Nearly a century after the 1919 World Series was marred by a match-fixing scandal and three decades after the all-time hit leader received a permanent ban for wagering money on the sport, Major League Baseball is now embracing sports betting. MLB announced on Tuesday that MGM Resorts would become its official gaming partner.
“There’s been a huge change in public opinion and the actual legal framework regarding sports gaming,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, “and I think it has presented an opportunity for all sports and baseball, in particular.”
The shrouds of the 1919 Black Sox (in which eight White Sox players accepted money to throw the World Series) and Pete Rose (who bet on games he managed, although, he has always maintained, never for his own team to lose) have long hung over the sport.