Baseball and betting has had an interesting relationship through the years, as one of the best players in MLB has been banned for life for his betting actions. That all started to change back in 2018 as the federal ban on sports betting was lifted.
Major League Baseball still doesn’t let players wager on sporting events, but they do allow betting to take place inside some of the stadiums. There are some MLB teams that have partnered with sports betting operators in an effort to try to find new revenue sources.
There are only a handful of ballparks throughout the league that currently have a retail sportsbook on-site, but there is some interesting news regarding those sportsbooks of late. One sports betting operator is set to leave an MLB park, while another is getting ready to launch.
DraftKings Opening at Wrigley; Betting On Hold
DraftKings Sportsbook has partnered with the Chicago Cubs, and that gave them the opportunity to build a retail sportsbook at historic and legendary Wrigley Field. Construction has been underway for more than a year, and it’s now time for opening day next week.
There is only one problem though; DraftKings Sportsbook has still not received the necessary licensing in order to accept wagers on-site. Since that is the case, DraftKings will be opening up as a sports lounge only.
June 27 is the opening day for the sports lounge, and there is a massive television screen located inside of the sportsbook. DraftKings Sportsbook is working with the Illinois Gaming Board to get that mobile operator license, but the IGB tends to work extremely slow.
DraftKings is already offering online and retail sports betting in the state as it also holds a partnership with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis. It has put up some terrific numbers at that location, but this new retail sportsbook is expected to become the leader in the state.
Wrigley Field will become the fourth MLB stadium with a retail sportsbook once DraftKings is fully live, but that number is going to be going down to three.
BetMGM Leaving Great American Ball Park
BetMGM Sportsbook is currently live and accepting wagers at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, but it plans to shut down that location later this fall. BetMGM has no intentions of leaving the state though as it will be offering retail sports betting at The Banks in downtown Cincinnati.
BetMGM was named the official sports betting partner of the Reds back in 2022, and the retail sportsbook launched at the home of the Reds on January 1. Ohio put up some huge sports betting numbers in January when the industry launched, but things have started to slow down in a big way.
There are a number of reasons that retail sportsbooks want to move locations, but the reason was pretty simple in this case. BetMGM Sportsbook was the only one in the state that wasn’t turning a profit and that forced the company to look into other options.
