NJ Denies Request From MLB To Remove Spring Training From Sportsbooks

• MLB’s request to remove spring training from sportsbooks in New Jersey was denied
• MLB made a similar request to other states with legal sports betting
• Only Pennsylvania has temporarily complied

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. –  First reported by David Payne Purdum of ESPN in a tweet, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) denied a request from Major League Baseball (MLB) for New Jersey to remove spring training games from sportsbooks in the state.

MLB has made similar requests to other states that have legal sports betting, such as Nevada and Pennsylvania. Nevada was the first out of all the states to deny the request, while Pennsylvania said the state would like to look into the issue.

The Motive From MLB

MLB said that because spring training games are more prone to corruption than the regular season games, these games should be removed from the books. The reasoning from MLB is because minor leagues are involved in the spring games. They believe that minor leagues are more prone to corruption because they do not make much money on their games.

However, spring training games actually bring in very little revenue for sportsbooks. MLB and other sports leagues have been trying to implement their own rules for sports betting ever since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was struck down in mid-2018. MLB was a part of the lawsuit involved trying to make sure PASPA was kept in place.

Big Money On Baseball

Even though spring training brings in very little money for sportsbooks, that doesn’t mean betting on baseball isn’t popular. According a report by the Division of Gaming Enforcement, $153 million was wagered on MLB games alone during the month of October in 2018.

Due to the high interest in betting on MLB games, the league wants to reign in betting as much as they can. If Pennsylvania or any other state decides to comply with the request and remove spring training games, this will give MLB and other sports leagues a foothold to gain control of sports betting that they did not have before.

New Jersey and almost all the other states that received the request from MLB have decided to move forward with including spring training games on sportsbooks. Pennsylvania is the only state that has temporarily removed spring training from their sportsbooks but they could come back in the near future. For now, sportsbooks in New Jersey and almost every other state have remained unchanged as the leagues continue to have their requests denied.