The explosion of sports betting and new allegations of gambling corruption in Major League Baseball are likely to lead to new and possibly bipartisan regulations from Congress, according to the Senate’s lead sports wagering critic.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has already started an investigation into professional sports betting, said his inquiry could also reach into college athletics.
“I’m also concerned about college sports, with such a proliferation, you know, you look at a small school with a game that’s not in the headlines, and an individual player there … playing at Podunk school who has a chance to make $10,000 fixing the game. And so, I think that is a real challenge,” he said on his podcast Verdict With Ted Cruz.
“I think the leagues can maybe take some steps about it, but it would not surprise me to see Congress act, and it’s one of the reasons I’m just trying to start with saying, ‘Okay, tell me the facts of how many allegations you’re getting of cheating. What are the facts?’” said the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.
He added, “My hope is we may see Congress act in a bipartisan way to fix it.”
Cruz moved quickly this month when two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged with rigging pitches. The indictment alleged that Guardians players Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz purposefully threw certain pitches and told friends to bet on the promised outcome.
He and his Democratic counterpart, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), sent a letter to MLB seeking details of the case.
Cruz said on his podcast that the growth of sports betting has led to a surge in micro bets, such as those on pitches. So-called “prop bets,” or proposition bets, focus on little twists in a game.
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“These prop bets, where you can bet on all sorts of different aspects of the game, and that, I think, significantly increases the risk of corruption, because a prop bet, an individual player can have a really significant impact on the outcome of that bet. And so, we’ve seen there’s an ongoing criminal investigation involving the NBA, involving coaches and players fixing games, and Major League Baseball as well,” said Cruz.
“The recent indictment alleges Cleveland Guardians’ players Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz purposely threw certain pitches for balls or strikes. Both players allegedly told friends of their plan and to place prop bets beforehand. Clase allegedly even made some bets himself. Perhaps most shockingly, this scheme lasted more than two years before Major League Baseball found out,” said Cruz on the podcast co-hosted with Ben Ferguson.
