Historic MLB Move: First League to Directly Impose Betting Limits

On November 10, the MLB announced that its sportsbook partners will limit micro bets to $200 caps and eliminate the ability to add micro bets to parlays. The associated sportsbooks, FanDuel, BetMGM, DraftKings and Caesars have already put this into practise, and now if you were to pick a microbet and stake money, the maximum amount you could cash out is capped at $200.

It comes amid a high profile MLB insider betting scandal, involving two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who have been investigated since July for alleged gambling activities. In the broader picture, this could have a knock on effect for microbets, which have emerged as one of America’s favorite betting options in recent years. They have been scrutinized by lawmakers, and this step, taken from Major League Baseball, sheds a new light on the influence of the sports federations themselves.

MLB Response to Micro Betting

In a statement published in November 11, Major League Baseball created new limits on the betting markets, and all of MLB’s sportsbook partners put them into effect. Sure, we are in the offseason right now so there are no bets to tamper or warning labels to slap onto the bets in question. The operators will have more than enough time between now and the start of the 2026 MLB Season to implement the changes on these betting markets in the manner they see best.

The MLB stated the micro bet restriction clearly:

• No micro bets in parlays
• Maximum $200 win cap on micro bets
• Covers all in-game micro markets (next-play bets, minute markets and flash bets)

The laws apply to all the official MLB sportsbook partners.

How America Feels About Micro Betting

Micro betting has come under a lot of heat recently, with New Jersey proposing an outright ban on these wagers. Senator Paul Moriarty initiated Bill S4794 in October, and before that, New Jersey Assemblyman Dan Hutchinson raised attention to the dangers surrounding micro betting. MLB has just beaten them to the punch, albeit with a slightly different motive. The MLB has vetoed these risque bets to uphold the sport’s integrity. Pitching betting markets can be manipulated by individual pitchers – just like what has happened with the Cleveland Guardians pitchers.

The state authorities are more concerned about the safety of the general betting public. Micro bets are not like simple player props. They are defined as wagers that relate to minute details in a game, including minute markets among the live betting markets, and highly specific player prop bets. You can’t really plan these ahead or build baseball betting strategies around them. Micro bets are fast, impulsive and highly repetitive. The fast paced nature of micro bets, and sheer volume of them (even in just a single game), makes them look highly addictive and thus problematic for regulators.

Micro Betting and Insider Betting

The scandal that pitchers Clase and Ortiz are embroiled in is contentious because the wagers placed specifically involved player-specific bets. It directly involves micro betting, because these types of props bets are highly specific and can be influenced by the actions of one player. Specifically, the pitcher, can manipulate their deliveries to satisfy certain criteria. Wagers that relate to the outcome of a game, such as moneylines, totals or spreads, are not as easy for insiders to gain advantages on. Because they are affected by the whole team’s efforts, and thus a single player cannot really manipulate these.

But if you think about a pitcher’s first innings, they can set the tempo and create openings for batters, pitch out, or influence the speed of the delivery. These are all things you can bet on. One of the other things a single player can do is fake an injury or request the coach to pull them from the game. This is what happened with Terry Rozier in the recent NBA insider betting scandal.

In Turkey, there was also a recent scandal involving game officials. Of 570+ Turkish referees, over 370 had betting accounts and 150+ placed bets on a regular basis. This did not just affect the lower tiers of Turkish soccer, but it went right up to the Super Lig, the top tier of Turkish soccer. Referees can actively influence the entire aspect of a game of soccer. Giving additional stoppage time, awarding decisions in favor of one team, and hindering momentum for the other team can all change the outcome of a game.

Throw in the opportunities to give extra bookings, call fouls, award penalties, and send off players, and it is a lot more alarming. A lot of those aspects are not even restricted to micro bets, you can place total bets on cards, total fouls, and even bet on whether there will be a red card in a game or not.

But, in the US, the problem doesn’t sit with game officials. Betting scandals have only involved players, athletes, staff members and coaches in recent years. The micro bets are the most, let’s say vulnerable, types of bets to insider trading. Match fixing is a lot rarer, and cannot be done by one player in isolation – it needs the cooperative effort of a handful of players.

Major League Baseball Extends Its Power

Protecting the general public is a duty that falls into the hands of state gambling authorities. Preventing insider gambling and betting is something that both the sports organizations and state gambling authorities have to solve. Generally, the process would be handled by the sports organization lobbying for a regulatory change. Such as heightened KYC or (in this case) limiting a specific betting market. They would send a letter or a formal request to either the state authorities directly or to a mediating party between the state authority and the sports organization.

The request would have to be turned into a Bill, which would then be introduced to the House of Representatives or Senate. Following this, it has to pass the floor debate and voting, head to the other house (Representatives or Senate, depending on where the Bill was introduced), and if passed, it arrives on the Governor’s desk. They have the final chance to veto the bill (which can then be overturned with a supermajority vote), take no action (and extend the process), or sign it and put the law into practice.

None of that happened with this $200 cap on MLB prop bets. Instead, Major League Baseball went straight to its sportsbook partners, including FanDuel and DraftKings, and formalized an agreement to have the safeguard limit. This is an unprecedented move that has never happened in the US. Such is the influence of MLB that it could get its official sponsor, since 2023, FanDuel, to introduce these safety limits. And with it, also get DraftKings, BetMGM and Caesars to do the same. Around 80% of the US betting industry is dominated by DraftKings and FanDuel, meaning the MLB’s micro bet cap is extremely effective.

Milestone for League Influence and Power

The MLB’s decision and prompt action to cap micro bets is not as powerful as getting sportsbooks to remove them entirely. But it represents an intriguing shift in power, with the sport organizers taking matters into their own hand and pulling the strings without going through the official channels. The closest example to it is the NCAA’s efforts to ban athlete prop bets and allow athletes to bet on pro sports, or the 2018-2020 NFL and NBA lobbying to restrict very specific prop bets and player specific actions. The MLB has taken on a more proactive stance to betting ever since the Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal in 2024, but this limit is something that is really very new to the US.

It may just be a one off, or have little impact on the greater issues regarding insider betting. On the flip side, this could be the start of a greater movement from sports organizations to use their partnerships to influence sportsbooks. The MLB’s decision may set the stage for a new era in sports betting oversight. League guidance may never carry the same weight as state legal regulations, but it can definitely produce quick results. Perhaps, these partnerships could become more influential if explored properly.