Ohio Gov. Calls For Prop Bets Ban Amid Cleveland Guardians Betting Investigation

Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis L. Ortiz, currently reside on non-disciplinary paid leave as the MLB investigates the players for potentially participating in a sports betting scheme. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine believes that player props are too easy for athletes to exploit and called for them to be banned in the state. 

According to NBC4, DeWine wants the Ohio Casino Control Commission to stop legal sportsbooks in the state from offering player prop bets. 

"The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm," DeWine said in a statement. "The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly."

Two Cleveland Guardians players are currently suspended as part of an MLB investigation into potential sports betting scandal and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants player prop bets banned in the state.

(Imagn Images)

Both Guardians pitchers are accused of manipulating prop bets that called for them to start an inning by throwing a ball, instead of a strike, on purpose. With the proliferation of legal sports betting, the props that gamblers can bet on have grown exponentially. While fixing an entire game can be difficult, fixing a specific player prop – something the NBA is currently dealing with, as well – is much easier. 

That being said, it's because of legalized sports betting that more and more players are being caught in the act. Sportsbooks and gaming commissions have the resources to track unusual betting activity, and that's leading to schemes being exposed. 

That being said, DeWine might have a point here. If prop bets are the ones that players are fixing – and the ones leading to threats against athletes – are they really worth it? After all, there is nothing more important to sports than the integrity of the results. If Americans start to believe that leagues are rigged, it destroys them. 

While I'm generally not in favor of limiting what people can do – small government, amirite!? – there might need to be a cool-off period while leagues adjust to the explosion of legal sports betting in the United States. If they can find a way to make sure betting scandals don't happen, great. Bring on the prop bets! But if not, it's not worth potentially sacrificing the integrity of sports in America.