The MLB Goes Virtual With ‘MLB The Show’ And Bets Are Open

• Major League Baseball (MLB) is taking a page from the NBA and streaming video game baseball matchups among professional players that can be wagered on.
• The three-week tournament of games will have a player from each division represented for a total of 30 players.

NEW YORK – Major League Baseball (MLB) has created “MLB The Show” for fans to watch while the sport is presently on hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

“MLB The Show” is actually a video game that the new “show” will be based on. Bettors will have the opportunity to gamble on baseball prop bets based on which professional baseball player will win in one-on-one games against other players. The matches will be live-streamed and futures odds are currently available.

The Game

Thirty individual MLB players will be participating in the tournament. There will be 29 games, each lasting a total of three innings a piece so that athletes can play multiple matches in the three-week-long competition.

On April 30, the top eight players will move on to what will be known as the postseason championships for “MLB The Show”.

Division and championship games will be done in a best-of-three format while the World Series will be the best of five. There will be a total of five players from each division that will be participating in the virtual games. The thirty players that will be playing in the games are:

Each player will receive a $5,000 donation simply for participating that will go to a Boys & Girls Club charity in the city where the team they are representing is from. The overall winner will receive an extra $25,000 on top of that.

This equals $175,000 in total that the MLB, along with Sony Interactive Entertainment and the MLB Players Association, will donate to the communities of the organizations amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

The schedule for the games, as well as the current standings, can be found at the MLB’s website. Sports bettors and baseball fans interested in streaming these games can do so through multiple outlets. All MLB affiliated social media accounts will have options listed to watch and interact as the matchups are happening.

The Bets

Sportsbooks are listing wagers for the next few matchups. The bets listed on legal sports betting sites for “MLB The Show” are:

MLB The Show League:

Virtual Sports Is New In 2020

With social distancing being implemented to flatten the curve of the Coronavirus pandemic, professional sports have turned to the video gaming world to play and keep fans engaged during the lack of games. The MLB is just the latest professional sports league to embrace the activity.

The NBA had opened up a 2K tournament for fans to watch using the same format.

Not only are video game sporting events a way for fans to interact with the sports they love so much, it also gives a chance for leagues and bookmakers to try and earn some sort of profit while everything is shut down.

Although the idea of video game sports matches may seem a bit out of left field, it’s a home run for all of those involved because it allows sports to continue while abiding by social distancing guidelines set by the CDC.