Gambling regulators in Ohio want to prohibit sportsbooks from offering so-called microbets, including betting markets on first pitches in Major League Baseball, amid a gambling investigation into two Cleveland Guardians pitchers.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC), at the request of Gov. Mike DeWine, is reviewing the types of microbets currently offered by the state’s books on all sports, before drafting a rule to remove some player-specific props from the list of approved wagers, executive director Matt Schuler told ESPN on Friday.
The proposed new rule would need approval from the Commission and the Ohio legislature before going into effect.
In a news release published July 31, DeWine referenced Major League Baseball’s “sports betting investigation” into Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase and asked the OCCC to remove prop bets on “highly specific events within games that are completely controlled by one player.”
DeWine said in the release that he would be asking the commissioners and players unions from MLB, NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL and MLS to support the effort to “ban prop betting to ensure the integrity of their leagues.” Schuler said DeWine’s request was focused on the in-game, player-specific microbets, not all player prop bets.
Major League Baseball is having ongoing conversations regarding how to address microbets, according to a source familiar with the issue. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters during the All-Star break that he believes certain types of microbets, such as ones on individual pitches, are “unnecessary and particularly vulnerable.”
The OCCC, collectively with MLB and independently, has been investigating the unusual betting interest on first pitches by Ortiz in select innings of two games played in June, Schuler said. Ortiz was put on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 3. Clase was put on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 28, as part of MLB’s sports betting investigation. The Guardians said in a statement last week that “no additional players or club personnel are expected to be impacted.”
The American Gaming Association, a Washington D.C.-based trade group that represents the casino industry, pushed back against any ban on betting types, saying in a statement that, “Prohibition doesn’t stop betting-it stops oversight. Illegal operators won’t honor bans, won’t partner with leagues, and won’t protect players or fans. The most effective path forward is education and deterrence: making sure every athlete knows the rules, understands the risks, and recognizes that if they compromise the game’s integrity, the legal market will catch it.”
A gambling industry source said the sportsbooks are willing to listen to concerns from regulators and leagues, and adjust their betting menus accordingly. The source pointed to the restrictions placed on prop bets involving NBA players on two-way contracts that came about after the Jontay Porter betting scandal.
Betting on balls and strikes for opening pitches of innings is not widely offered at offshore sportsbooks. Adam Burn, manager for the Panama-based online sportsbook BetOnline.ag, told ESPN that they choose not to offer betting on first pitches before or during the game because the market is exploitable by betting syndicates. “It’s too dangerous to offer pregame and even more dangerous live,” Burns told ESPN.