MLBPA executive wary of ‘dangerous world’ of partnerships with sports betting operators
Head of MLB players union Tony Clark voices concern over increased tie-in between league and sports betting just days after MGM Resorts deal
The leader of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) is not mincing his words when it comes to the increased prevalence of partnerships between MLB interests and sports betting operators.
MLBPA executive director Tony Clark told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on July 19 that he believes “we’re entering a very delicate and, dare I say, dangerous world here,” in reference to the now omnipresent overlap of sportsbooks with MLB teams, players and stadiums.
“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,” Clark continued. “But when you have players suggest that no sooner was PASPA repealed, they started to have book houses following them on social media, then that gets you a little twitchy pretty quick.”
Clark noted how it didn’t take long for operators like FanDuel and DraftKings to begin striking marketing and branding deals with MLB clubs and the league following the repeal of PASPA in July 2018.
DraftKings is currently in the process of building a retail sportsbook at Wrigley Field, scheduled to open in 2023, in concert with the Chicago Cubs. MGM Resorts International, meanwhile, has announced a pair of MLB partnerships just this month.
The first, a multi-year agreement between MGM Resorts International and MLB Players, Inc., announced on July 14, makes the international casino resort operator the official partner of the business arm of the MLBPA.
The following day, BetMGM unveiled an extension and expansion of its current sponsorship deal with MLB that will see the online operator retain its status as the official betting partner of the league. That comes on the heels of BetMGM opening the first in-stadium retail sportsbook at Nationals Park in Washington earlier this year.
Add it all up and it’s not a stretch to see the concerns of Clark, who understands that the industry is full steam ahead and is now focusing his efforts on lobbying the states that have yet to come online.
“We’ll continue to pound the pavement in each of the state legislatures that are continuing to push, that have language in place and those that don’t yet that but? are potentially coming online, to ensure that as much as anything that our players are protected, and their families by extension are protected, as a result of the language that’s on the books despite the fact that this train has left the station,” Clark said.