Senate Commerce Committee Probing Gambling in MLB

The U.S. The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee is concerned by the recent gambling scandals occurring in Major League Baseball. Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) are requesting information from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred regarding allegations of gambling corruption in the league.

Last week, prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York unsealed an indictment against two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians. The recent indictment alleges that Guardians players Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz purposefully threw certain pitches and told friends to place prop bets beforehand or made bets themselves.

Major League Baseball (MLB), and American sports generally, are facing a new integrity crisis,” Cruz said in a statement released by the committee. “We now seek information from MLB about how the League is addressing alleged game manipulation and threats to baseball’s integrity.”

The committee is also seeking a similar response from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver regarding the recent arrests of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat player Terry Rozier for their part in another alleged gambling scandal.

What answers is the Senate seeking from MLB?

Cruz indicated that the committee submitted a long list of questions to the MLB Commissioner’s Office. They are demanding that Manfred provide answers to each of the queries.

Among the items the committee wants answered are how and when MLB was made aware of suspicious betting and game manipulation activity by Clase or Ortiz. They want MLB to provide documents sufficient to support their response. MLB is also requested to supply documents that will explain MLB’s policies and procedures relating to sports betting, gambling, or game rigging by MLB or an affiliated team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners.

They seek a list of any investigations into an MLB or affiliate team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners for violating MLB rules relating to sports betting, gambling, or game rigging or related criminal conduct between January 1, 2020, and the present. The committee also wants access to all documents related to any investigation listed in response to this request. These items would include procedures and policies used to conduct any relevant investigation, documents received by third parties or otherwise collected by MLB during any relevant investigation, and findings, conclusions, and actions taken as a result of any relevant investigation.

MLB is also requested to provide all communications between it and any sports betting platform or sports gambling integrity monitor regarding suspicious or flagged sports wagers placed by MLB’s or an affiliated team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners, or placed on MLB games or propositions related to MLB games, players, or teams.

The Senate Commerce Committee also wants MLB to lay out the plans it is implementing to ensure that plans are in place to further address the alleged instances of sports betting, gambling, and game rigging that have occurred. This would include how or if MLB plans to revise its rules, policies, procedures, or enforcement structure regarding gambling.

They also want to know if MLB plans to revise or enforce its rules relating to cellphone use during games, and whether MLB plans to ensure players, employees, coaches, and owners do not have ties to organized crime.

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