On May 28, in the 9th inning of a mostly unremarkable baseball game between the Cleveland Guardians and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase threw his first pitch so low it almost landed in the dirt. Dodgers batter Andy Pages, notorious for his horrific plate discipline, swung through it anyway. As was later revealed in the grand jury indictment that charged Clase with fraud, bribery and conspiracy, Pages ruined a “prop bet” Clase had arranged with bettors prior to the game. Prop bets are made on highly specific outcomes within a game, allowing bettors to wager on certain pitch locations, speeds and sequences. Clase’s agreement with the bettors meant he was required to throw a first pitch ball, but Pages’ swing caused both Clase and the bettors to lose out on all $4000 dollars of their wager.
Clase’s involvement in illegal gambling rings was just one of the latest in a very long string of controversies within American sports — a trend that doesn’t require much detective work to unravel.
When the Supreme Court legalized online sports betting in 2018, companies like FanDuel, Underdog and DraftKings quickly optimized their platforms for digital use. This meant curating sports betting to a younger generation already wrapped up in the dopamine addictions of social media, promoting prop bets and parlays that would allow users to receive results almost instantly. Bets can be completed with the tap of a button. It’s a slot machine you keep in your pocket.
This new method has been ridiculously successful in terms of both revenue and marketing –– to the point that online gambling companies are now involved in active partnerships with teams, leagues and broadcasting organizations. Kansas City Royals games are run on FanDuel Network. Odds are displayed before or during almost every major sports game.
When American sports institutions endorse gambling like this, it becomes very difficult to recognize the incentives to stay out of it. Can you really blame Clase for what he got wrapped up in, when virtually every corner you turn as an athlete directs you to a parlay? When the over/under for your performance may as well be printed on a laminated sheet and stapled to your back before every game?
The acceptance of sports gambling as an economic institution has crippled the very industries it claims to support –– if not financially, then morally –– encouraging athletes and fans alike to sacrifice their fiscal security for a chance at the jackpot. When Clase joined the scheme that got him arrested and suspended from MLB, he was signed to a five-year, $20 million contract. His successful prop bets earned him an additional $30,000, on average. If even multimillionaire athletes can be enticed by the brain-rotted, addictive practices of online sports betting, legislators have a responsibility to question if the integrity of American sports is at stake.