Gov. Mike DeWine Embraces MLB’s Stance on Prop Bets

Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine, has once again taken a position on prop bets, following up on an MLB proposal to have certain types of performance wagers restricted or set caps on, with sportsbooks embracing this proposal. Prop bets have already been targeted by the MLB in Ohio before.

Gov. DeWine All For Regulating Prop Bets

Gov. DeWine has backed this proposal, calling it a long-overdue measure and one that would help make sports safer. His comments come in the wake of a betting scandal involving two high-profile pitchers in the MLB who are said to have won $460,000 from fumbling plays to secure betting outcomes.

This has been made possible through the use of prop bets that allow people to wager on specific outcomes within the game, such as a pitcher throwing a pitch, for example. Gov. DeWine has said that MLB’s proposal was a sensible one and well worth pursuing, urging operators to embrace it.

Previously, Gov. DeWine has called for an outright ban on props bets, arguing that they were tied to undermining the integrity of sports and putting athletes in a difficult position.

“The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass,” Gov. DeWine said, commenting on the most recent scandal surrounding prop bets, adding: “First, there were threats on Ohio athletes, and now two high-profile Ohio professional athletes have been suspended by Major League Baseball as part of a ‘sports betting investigation.”

The MLB is hardly the only major American league to have come under scrutiny following revelations of entrenched corruption among players. The NBA and UFC are both undergoing FBI scrutiny, with Americans increasingly skeptical of the fairness of events and whether athletes are actually trying their best to win games.