- Games
Rob Manfred said he does not expect any further restrictions after the league made changes to regulations surrounding prop bets
Chris WilsonMonday 24 November 2025 17:24 GMT
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred (AP)Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said on Wednesday that the MLB is “generally prepared to move forward” under current betting regulations after the league’s authorized sportsbook partners announced restrictions on prop bets in baseball.
Major sportsbooks announced earlier this month that they would impose a limit of $200 for wagering on individual pitches, while these bets will also be excluded from parlays.
The action came after Cleveland Guardians duo Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase were indicted over their alleged roles in a gambling scheme in which prosecutors argue the players rigged individual pitches.
They were charged with crimes including wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, with both facing lifetime bans and up to 65 years in prison if found guilty.
Speaking during a scheduled news conference during the MLB’s owners meetings, Manfred said: “I think that the most important undertaking and really the bedrock of our relationship with the sportsbooks is the ability to monitor betting activity.
Recommended
iGaming leads gambling revenue boom in New Jersey
Proposed bill to expand online sports betting in Wisconsin postponed until 2026
US sports betting: Which states have legalized online sportsbooks?
"The ability to discern inappropriate patterns is really, really important. We understood the prop bet issue from the very beginning. I'm glad we've done something about it. But the rest of the program, right now, I think we're generally prepared to move forward under the rules that we have now.”
Manfred credited Ohio governor Mike DeWine for helping to facilitate the new restrictions, adding that he “really did a huge service, I think to us certainly, in terms of kind of bringing forward the need to do something in this area.”
“We think the changes that we’ve made strike the right balance,” he added, suggesting that he does not think an outright ban on prop bets is necessary.
Last week, members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which oversees professional sports, sent a letter to Manfred claiming that “MLB, and American sports generally, are facing a new integrity crisis”, calling the recent scandal “markedly more serious than other recent sports betting incidents in MLB”.
On Wednesday, Manfred also addressed the inquiry, stating that the league would "respond fully and cooperatively and on time".
“We think the steps we’ve taken in terms of limiting the size of these prop bets and prohibiting parlays off them is a really significant change that should reduce the incentive for anyone to be involved in an inappropriate way.”
