State of the Union: MLB removes Rose from ineligible list; Ippei receives delay, more
Manfred lifts ban against Rose, Shoeless Joe
Nearly eight months after the death of Pete Rose, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred removed the hit king from the league’s permanently ineligible list on Tuesday.
Amid an investigation into gambling allegations against Rose, the former Cincinnati Reds manager voluntarily accepted a spot on the list in August 1989.
The historic announcement by Manfred clears a potential path for Rose’s long-postponed induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In conjunction with Manfred’s sweeping reversal, MLB also lifted the ban on “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and a host of other deceased players.
Jackson and seven teammates received a lifetime ban from professional baseball for their alleged involvement in the so-called 1919 Black Sox scandal. Despite acquittals on corruption charges, all eight former White Sox players were placed on the list for their role in allegedly fixing the World Series that year.
As with his teammates, Jackson initially agreed to a signed confession. Before his death, though, he denied any knowledge of the match-fixing conspiracy, insisting that he fell victim to an attempt of coercion.
“Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” Manfred wrote in a letter to Jeffrey Lenkov, an attorney who petitioned for Rose’s reinstatement.
Decision from HOF committee looms
A comprehensive investigation into Rose’s gambling activity found that he placed 52 wagers on Reds games when he served as the team’s manager. More than a decade later, Rose admitted to placing wagers on the Reds, but not on the team to lose.
Following Rose’s death last September, illegal bookie Matt Bowyer claimed that he took action from the MLB legend. Bowyer, the bookie of choice for Shohei Ohtani’s ex-interpreter, told the New York Post that he cut off Rose when the hit king eclipsed his average of $1,000 per wager.
Jane Forbes Clark, board chairwoman of the Hall of Fame, told ESPN that MLB’s policy shift will enable Rose and the others to be considered by the Hall’s Historical Overview Committee.
Rose is the league’s all-time leader in career hits with 4,256.
Mizzou sets December go-live date
When the Kansas City Chiefs host the Texans this December on Sunday Night Football, there is a strong chance that fans inside Arrowhead Stadium will be able to bet on an anytime Patrick Mahomes rushing touchdown prop.
On Thursday, the Missouri Gaming Commission announced that it has opened the application process for potential sportsbook licensees. Under Missouri legislation, the state’s legal sports betting market must open on 1 December at the latest. The Chiefs, the three-time defending AFC champion, will face the Texans six nights later.
The MGC can issue up to 14 online sports betting licences, along with at least 19 licences on the retail sports betting side. The state will charge $500,000 for a mobile licence, twice the cost of a retail one. Applications for an untethered online sports betting licence are due on 15 July, according to the MGC. All other applications are due in September.
The Chiefs currently have odds of +420 at FanDuel to win the AFC. Kansas City is bidding to become the first team to make it to four straight Super Bowls since the Buffalo Bills in the early 1990s.
NCAA considers ban lift on student-athlete bets on pro sports
The NCAA is considering lifting restrictions that bar student-athletes from wagering on professional sports events, a potential rule change that would create a major shift on a longstanding policy.
At present, the NCAA prohibits student-athletes from wagering on any NCAA-sponsored sport offered on the professional level. The possible rule change could help the NCAA streamline enforcement efforts, allowing the association to focus on policing match manipulation. This week, an NCAA working group discussed the potential policy shift as the spring championship season reaches the midway point.
Over the last 15 months, college athletics has been rocked by a spate of scandals involving suspicious betting patterns. Federal authorities have reportedly launched an investigation into a major point-shaving breach involving multiple schools.
Policy change may be approved before MLB All Star Game
In April, the Division I Board of Directors directed the Division I Council to adopt changes to sports betting rules – specifically, changes that would allow betting on professional sports. The board of directors voted near-unanimously, 21-1, to approve the change.
With the backing of the council, the legislation could be approved as early as next month, SI.com reported. Prior to the meeting, sources told iGB that the council was expected to receive an update on the directive this week.
However, the group is not expected to take any formal action until the end of June at the earliest, they noted. More information on the specific changes and a formal proposal will be available at a later date.
During the 2024-25 college basketball season, several mid-major programs were linked to an illegal gambling enterprise under federal investigation. As of Friday, federal prosecutors in New York continue to investigate the ring for its alleged role in another scandal involving former NBA player Jontay Porter. Federal law enforcement officials apprehended Shane Hennen, an alleged ringleader, in January.
After receiving a lifetime ban for manipulating his performance in at least two NBA games, Porter pleaded guilty last July to federal wire fraud conspiracy. Porter, a younger brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr, is awaiting sentencing in December. Several other defendants have entered guilty pleas in the conspiracy to defraud a major sportsbook.
Last week, the NCAA disciplined five Iowa State staffers for combining to place more than 6,200 bets, including games involving the university.
Sportradar encouraged by US trends with in-play betting
Several days after DraftKings drew attention for making inroads with in-game betting over the first quarter, Sportradar reiterated its stance for the US market on live betting.
During the three-month period ended 31 March, Sportradar established a strong position in the US, where the company has data agreements with three of the nation’s four largest sports leagues, according to a quarterly presentation.
For all markets, Sportradar generated consolidated revenue of $347.9 million, up 17% from the year-ago quarter. The company’s US segment represented 28% of its overall revenue mix for the period, compared with 25% from the same quarter in 2024. Sportradar, which reported first-quarter earnings on 12 May, topped analysts’ EPS estimates for the period.
Moving forward, Sportradar projects its US division will grow at a 23% CAGR. Last week, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins noted that live betting in baseball represents about 36% of the operator’s overall volume in the sport. While Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl indicated that in-game betting represents about 70% of total activity in the UK, the US is trending upward in some respects.
“Some books adapt quicker, some books are adopting slower,” said Koerl on the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “It’s a question of the marketing and where do you direct the people and how do you promote it.”
Extended deal with MLB through 2032
Sportradar, one of the world’s largest sports betting data providers, expanded its data partnership with MLB for eight years through 2032. In the earnings presentation, Sportradar told investors that its “global scale” underpins its ability to “broaden MLB’s exposure to fans worldwide”.
According to statistics from H2 Global Capital, MLB ranks sixth worldwide in gross gaming revenue. From a customer perspective, micro betting opportunities through pitch-by-pitch wagering have increased since DraftKings’ acquisition last year of Simplebet. Besides MLB, Sportradar has also secured long-term data partnerships in recent years with the NBA and the NHL.
In securing the rights to the three sports, Sportradar has assembled a diverse portfolio of exclusive sports content, the company wrote in the presentation. The data provider’s sportsbook partners have accumulated at least 70% of the sports betting gross gaming revenue for each of the sports, according to Sportradar.
The company’s managed trading services unit processed about 32 million tickets last year. MLB, which has taken an undisclosed equity stake in Sportradar, has enlisted the company to serve as the exclusive distributor of its official data, media feed and AV content.
Sportsbook tech providers vie in trade secrets suit
A sports betting technology supplier that has provided its source code to some of the nation’s largest sportsbooks urged a Nevada federal court to deny a motion from a former collaborator that seeks to delay a discovery ruling, pending summary judgment.
The filing is the latest wrinkle in a protracted legal dispute between two sportsbook providers – Amelco USA, LLC and Internet Sports International. ISI, a Las Vegas-headquartered sportsbook software supplier, asked a judge last week to pause proceedings in its lawsuit against Amelco for allegedly stealing trade secrets.
ISI initially filed a lawsuit against Amelco in June 2023, alleging that the latter stole “tens of millions” worth of sportsbook software and code. By last November, ISI filed a motion with the court for partial summary judgment, surrounding the enforceability of two confidentiality agreements.
In a filing on 12 May, Amelco asked a Nevada district court to deny ISI’s motion to stay, arguing that one would create an additional burden on the court.
The two collaborated in 2019 on a retail sports betting solution for Wildwood Casino in Colorado, as Amelco brought on ISI for developing a series of kiosks inside the property. Shortly after completing a licence agreement, ISI claimed that Amelco’s software was “not suited for use” in the US market, according to court documents.
ISI further alleged that the software could not be used in the US without a complete overhaul.
Dispute over discovery
While ISI acknowledged Amelco’s position as a mobile sports betting leader, the company claimed Amelco lacked the requisite understanding of the technical capabilities needed for executing a “kiosk project”. Attorneys for ISI allege that, once Amelco “completed its extraction” of ISI’s confidential trade secrets, the British company discarded the Nevada company.
Amelco subsequently struck deals with some of the nation’s most prominent sportsbooks, including Fanatics Sportsbook and Hard Rock BET. In the 79-page November brief, attorneys for ISI claimed they did not seek a complete resolution of the case or a ruling on whether the company breached a contract by allegedly misappropriating trade secrets.
Instead, ISI asked the court to resolve issues of applicability with a 2019 non-disclosure agreement between the companies.
For its part, Amelco claims that ISI failed to produce key evidence on the software and code until the discovery process had closed. Amelco believes ISI is evading scrutiny over alleged discovery misconduct and has asked the court to proceed.
ISI, meanwhile, asked the court to delay proceedings on discovery pending summary judgment. Alternatively, ISI asked for an extension to 17 July to respond to Amelco’s motion.
“ISI will suffer no hardship from being required to proceed with the lawsuit it filed, and ISI does not need an additional two months to oppose,” Amelco wrote in the brief.
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