Draftkings and Fanduel will finally have their ‘men’s warehouse’ star player who can say “I’m not only the lead spokesman for these services… I’m also a client!” I think the inevitable finding will be that Ohtani either had knowledge that his interpreter was doing this and aided to cover it up… or he was involved in the bet-making himself. Even if it is the worser of the two latter, while it would have been a stain on his career, that is very recoverable. The fact that there’s been so many stories now that have come out…. And now the only story is “we need to figure out the real story”… it almost makes any further revelation of his involvement that much worse.
He didn’t use Draftkings or FanDuel. He used an illegal bookie. Which is against MLB rules. He (or his interpreter) were not making legal bets. Huge difference.
Why does anyone care about this if he wasn't betting on baseball and/or Angels games? Of course he used a bookie; sports betting isn't legal in California. I find it more offensive that MLB has gotten in bed with gambling apps and now wants to act sanctimoniously when one of its stars bets on other sports. It's irrational to think that players wouldn't gamble with all of this betting money flooding sports.
I think people care because there is still the unknown on what he actually bet on. And the fact that baseball has banned the hit king for life gets the old timers riled up. It's definitely a story and the clicks aren't surprising.
It’s more than that. You can’t run a league that sells itself on the integrity of the contest…and have your players are getting caught up in illegal gambling, particularly when the they’re allegedly extended out in the tens of millions of dollars. Owing anything to an illegal bookie isn’t a good look for a league…owing around $15 million to one is something else. Perception is reality when you’re talking about the integrity of a sports league. It’s why there’s such a bright line, wide fence rule against it
No, it's a ****ing huge difference. eta: also, this is a good read: https://cupofcoffee.beehiiv.com/p/cup-coffee-extra-breaking-shohei-ohtaniippei-mizuhara-story
MLB isn't the one acting sanctimonious. It's the press who wants to sell controversial and law enforcement who wants to stop illegal betting in California. Again, I think it's stupid because he could just gotten someone to drive a couple hours to Vegas to place bets for him.
