Red Sox President: Sports betting a "positive thing"
Government regulation of sports betting will be a "positive thing," according to the president of the Boston Red Sox, and Major League Baseball is taking the lead on behalf of the 30 professional baseball franchises in talks with states over potential regulatory scenarios.
On May 14, the U.S. Supreme Court opened the door to a state-by-state expansion of legal sports betting, ruling in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association that the federal ban on state-sanctioned sports betting is unconstitutional. The case was brought by the state of New Jersey as a challenge to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).
The ruling is suddenly forcing states to consider whether to legalize sports betting.
"There's estimates that there's a hundred billion to four hundred billion dollars of illegal or illicit activity going on on sports betting around the world," Red Sox President Sam Kennedy told New England Sports Network in a televised interview Sunday afternoon. "And so it's better to protect the integrity of the game, to have the government involved and to have regulation involved. We've seen that in other parts of the world with sports betting. So it's something that baseball is working really hard to protect and to be a part of in a pro-active way."
Prior to the 6-3 court ruling, Major League Baseball had been "working closely" with other governing bodies in sports, like the NBA and the PGA Tour, to ensure "that the industry is prepared" if the federal law was overturned and states legalize sports betting, Kennedy said.
"So Major League Baseball has been working closely with elected officials, the state of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, all the New England states and states around the country just to make sure that there are protections in place for the consumers, for the sport," he said. "It's a very complex issue, but it seemed inevitable so baseball, to their credit, got out in front of it and they've been talking to the elected officials and we'll see. It's unknown how it's gonna play out. But I do think it's a positive thing that it will be regulated because we all know there's lots and lots of illegal activity that goes on and the most important thing for the Red Sox and Major League Baseball is protecting that integrity of the game."
The 30 MLB baseball clubs are "just following the lead of Major League Baseball and will support them any way that we possibly can," Kennedy said.
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday asked Congress to enact uniform standards for states that choose to legalize sports betting and said "four core principles" should be reflected in the standards. The principles are "substantial consumer protections," "sports leagues can protect our content and intellectual property from those who attempt to steal or misuse it," "fans will have access to official, reliable sports data," and "law enforcement will have the resources, monitoring and enforcement tools necessary to protect our fans and penalize bad actors here at home and abroad."
Goodell said protecting the integrity of the sport was his top priority.
"Our fans, our players and our coaches deserve to know that we are doing everything possible to ensure no improper influences affect how the game is played on the field. This week's ruling by the Supreme Court has no effect on that unwavering commitment," he wrote. "We have spent considerable time planning for the potential of broadly legalized sports gambling and are prepared to address these changes in a thoughtful and comprehensive way, including substantial education and compliance trainings for our clubs, players, employees and partners. These efforts include supporting commonsense legislation that protects our players, coaches and fans and maintains public confidence in our games."
The Red Sox, Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics and New England Patriots each declined to comment to the News Service last week after the Supreme Court's ruling and referred to statements issued by their respective leagues, largely saying the leagues will work with lawmakers as states consider legalizing betting.
On Beacon Hill, Smith Costello & Crawford is listed as the lobbying firm for Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, as well as Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, which is based in Washington D.C. and also represents the PGA Tour.
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