June 4, 2024

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MLB’s set of player suspensions for gambling-related offenses mark the latest episode in a dramatic spring surrounding sports betting. … Utah’s new NHL team is seeing a lot of demand from fans for tickets, maybe too much demand. … WNBA drama dominates the sports-talk airwaves. … Plus: More on Kyle Larson, LIV Golf, Maria Taylor, and the French Open.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Lifetime Ban Is More Proof of Sports’ Complicated Betting Relationship [[link removed]]

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The spring of gambling reckoning across the sports industry has hit another major inflection point, signaling that the difficult coexistence between legal betting and league operations isn’t going to fade anytime soon.

MLB suspended [[link removed]] five players Tuesday for betting on baseball, including a lifetime ban on Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano (above), with each in the group wagering on major league games in blatant violation of league rules. The penalties closely follow a similar lifetime suspension levied [[link removed]] by the NBA on Raptors center Jontay Porter, and federal bank and tax fraud charges [[link removed]] on Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani—with both of those incidents also happening just in the last two months.

The latest cases continue to show the uneasy relationship between the growth of legal sports betting and leagues working to maintain competitive integrity.

Sports betting overall continues to soar to unprecedented heights, reaching record levels [[link removed]] of revenue and total handle in 2023. As nearly every major sports league, including MLB, has built an extensive portfolio of gambling-related business relationships—sparking accusations of hypocrisy among some fans—those leagues have also sought to create a bright line marking what is and isn’t permissible for players.

In the case of MLB, that line includes sacrificing some broader societal rights.

“We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

MLB learned of the players’ wagering activities primarily from an unnamed, but legal, sportsbook operator.

Terrible Performance

A further tragedy of the five MLB players damaging or throwing away entirely their pro baseball careers to gambling was how poorly they performed in their baseball-related wagers and, in some cases, how small the involved bets were.

Marcano bet more than $150,000 on baseball, with an average of about $378 per bet, and won only 4.3% of those, including losses in all of his parlays involving the Pirates, his former team. Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome, suspended for a year, bet $453.74 on MLB games and posted a net loss of $433.54, and received payouts for only two of 32 MLB-related bets.

Diamondbacks minor league pitcher Andrew Saalfrank, also suspended for a year, posted a net loss of $272.64 on $444.07 of MLB-related bets and won just five of 28 wagers. A’s pitcher Michael Kelly also received a yearlong suspension for conduct involving just $99.22 worth of bets involving MLB games.

In the end, though, the level of activity was far less of an issue compared to the betting on MLB games at all by these players. Marcano is believed to be the first major leaguer to receive a permanent ban for gambling since Pete Rose agreed to a similar penalty in 1989 for wagering on games as a Reds player and manager from ’85 to ’87.

“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century,” Manfred said.

Mizuhara, meanwhile, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the federal charges, and now faces up to 33 years in prison, and also must pay restitution to Ohtani and the IRS. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25.

Want to Attend Utah NHL Games? Local Residents Will Have an Edge [[link removed]]

Gabriel Mayberry-USA TODAY Sports

Fan demand for the newly relocated Utah NHL franchise is so intense that the team now has something of a math problem on its hands.

As tickets for the team officially go on sale Friday, Utah NHL officials said they have received more than 34,000 deposits for season tickets in the six-plus weeks since the move of the former Arizona Coyotes was announced [[link removed]]. That figure is up by 70% from the 20,000 deposits made [[link removed]] in the frenetic first 24 hours after the news hit of the relocation.

The Math ‘Doesn’t Work’

But regardless of the final number, that demand is much higher than the roughly 10,000 seats at the Delta Center that will initially offer unobstructed views for hockey—a figure set to rise to 17,000 in the coming years. Team executives are now finalizing a plan in which season tickets will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis depending on when the initial deposit was made, but also with an eye toward pushing partial-season ticket plans to allow a greater number of fans to have access to the debut season in Salt Lake City.

Pricing will start at $44 per seat, per game. Additionally, priority will be given to purchasers with a Utah ZIP code.

“The math just doesn’t work for everyone to get a seat,” said Chris Barney, Utah NHL chief commercial officer, in response to a Front Office Sports question. “It’s one of the reasons we’ll have a robust mini-plan offering and [why] we’re giving people on the deposit list priority to buy single-game tickets.”

Overall, the first season of the Utah NHL franchise will have a capacity of about 16,000 at the Delta Center, counting both unobstructed and obstructed seats.

The situation somewhat mirrors the intense demand that also greeted the NHL’s arrival to Las Vegas, in which the Golden Knights capped [[link removed]] their season-ticket sales a full year before starting play. As the Utah franchise looks to the Golden Knights and other high-demand teams as business influences, the arrival of the NHL to the Beehive State also marks a significant milestone [[link removed]] in the ongoing growth of pro sports there.

“We’re in a position to watch what other teams have done [in this situation] and take the best of what they’ve done and apply it here to make sure people feel like we’re engaging them,” Barney said.

What’s in a Name?

The franchise, meanwhile, is reportedly advancing plans to finalize a temporary moniker as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has received multiple applications [[link removed]] for Utah Hockey Club and various logos relating to that. That branding will act as essentially a placeholder for the first season while a broader fan-focused effort continues to select the permanent name.

That initiative, beginning [[link removed]] last month with 20 name candidates, is now winnowing down to a final four, according to team owner Ryan Smith. Appearing recently on The Pat McAfee Show, Smith said Yeti and Mammoth will be among the remaining candidates.

“We’ve got our four. I think Mammoth’s up there. I think Yeti’s up there. I think a couple other ones are up there. I think it should be good,” Smith said on the show.

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LOUD AND CLEAR Trouble in Bristol?

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

“Who talks about the WNBA, who talks about women, who talks about women’s sports more than First Take?”

—ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith (above), during a discussion with his colleague Monica McNutt about coverage of Caitlin Clark this season. McNutt replied, “Respectfully, with your platform, you could have been doing this three years ago if you wanted to.” The segment on Monday’s episode of First Take [[link removed]] happened a few hours before Pat McAfee addressed the controversy around Clark’s treatment [[link removed]] on his show, saying, “There’s one white b**** for the Indiana team who is a superstar.” Front Office Sports reporter Margaret Fleming dives into why McAfee’s take was inaccurate [[link removed]] and potentially harmful for the sport.

STATUS REPORT Three Up, One Down

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Larson ⬆ The driver has been granted a waiver to restore his eligibility for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. He missed the Coca-Cola 600 on May 26 as he raced in the Indianapolis 500 on the same day, but rain delayed his arrival [[link removed]] to Charlotte for the NASCAR race. Drivers are typically required to start, or attempt to qualify for, all Cup Series events to retain playoff status.

LIV Golf ⬆ Dean Burmester and David Puig were among the 44 players who qualified for the U.S. Open on Monday, filling out the major championship’s 156-person field. That brings LIV’s total player count in next week’s event at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club to 12, joining Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, and Eugenio Chacarra.

Maria Taylor ⬆ NBC Sports has picked the on-air personality (above) as its late-night host for this summer’s Paris Olympics. Among other duties, Taylor will report live from Team USA’s boat as it makes its way down the River Seine during the opening ceremony.

French Open ⬇ Novak Djokovic, a three-time winner of the tennis Grand Slam and this year’s top seed, has withdrawn ahead of the tournament’s quarterfinals [[link removed]] due to a knee injury. Djokovic defeated Francisco Cerundolo in a five-set fourth-round match Monday. No. 7 Casper Ruud, who was scheduled to play Djokovic on Wednesday, automatically advances to Friday’s semifinals.

EVENT Future of Sports Is Headed to Cannes

Join us June 19 for an afternoon of networking and creative conversations. As creatives in the communications and advertising fields gather for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, we will celebrate sports media on a global level for an afternoon of engaging keynotes, discussion, and networking.

The exclusive event, hosted in partnership with Publicis Sports and NBC Sports, will unpack major topics in sports media today, including women’s sports equity, the evolution of sports partnerships, and the next decade of global sports.

Learn more [[link removed]] or request to attend this exclusive event, supported by our partners Relo Metrics and Footballco.

Conversation Starters Fifty years ago today, Cleveland’s MLB team hosted the now infamous “Ten-Cent Beer Night” against the Rangers. About 60,000 beers were consumed by 25,134 fans, seven people were sent to the hospital, and the game was stopped due to drunken rioting. Texas was declared the winner via forfeit. Take a look back here [[link removed]]. Amazon Prime Video released the trailer for Federer: Twelve Final Days, documenting the end of the tennis legend’s career. Watch here [[link removed]]. The College World Series is approaching, and there have already been some notable upsets in the regionals. Check out [[link removed]] one school’s unlikely run. Editors’ Picks Microsoft Warns of Russian Olympic Disinformation Campaign [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Russian actors used an AI-generated Tom Cruise in a fake propaganda film. Watford F.C. to Sell 10% of Team to Public to Raise Revenue [[link removed]]by Alex Schiffer [[link removed]]The English football club was relegated from the EPL two years ago. Why Tom Brady Experienced a Sharp Drop in Latest NFLPA Income Report [[link removed]]by Daniel Kaplan [[link removed]]Brady earned just $650,000 through the NFLPA in the latest 12-month period. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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