Today is March 26, and you know what that means, right? It’s the start of the MLB season! All 30 teams should be taking the field to play America’s favorite pastime.
But they won’t be.
Major League Baseball is doing everything it can to keep baseball starved fans entertained on March 26, airing classic baseball games for all 30 clubs, and making the 2018 and 2019 seasons free on MLB TV.
But that’s not much help for sports books. We all know how these games ends, and it offers nothing to gamblers and baseball fans who want something fresh. For all of us hoping for some promise of normalcy in the near future, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred joined Scott Van Pelt on ESPN:
"But the one thing I know for sure is baseball will be back. Whenever it's safe to play, we'll be back. … We will be part of the recovery, the healing in this country from this particular pandemic."
—@MLB commissioner Rob Manfred to @notthefakeSVP pic.twitter.com/nEGAXwOTLt
— ESPN (@espn) March 26, 2020
Earlier in the interview, Manfred noted that the original 2 week postponement of the season now looks unlikely, with the earliest time he sees the league preparing for a season would be sometime in May. But, as you can see from the clip above, the league really has no power to start back up until the situation allows it, as so many states have banned large gatherings.
So where does that leave the sports betting industry? Well, books like Bodog are still taking bets on when the baseball season will start.
Will MLB Regular Season Start On Or Before July 3rd, 2020
Yes -110
No -130
Beyond that, you have to start looking at other options. Virtual sports, while not the real thing, have games kicking off all the time, and still provide the enjoyment of watching something as you bet on it. Similarly, esports, while taking a huge hit financially from a lack of live crowds, still provides plenty of fresh content for sports books to offer lines on.
And as I’m sure our faithful readers are already aware, there’s plenty of whacky new lines going up every day, like wagering on marbles or weather patterns. But for those of us who love baseball, and betting on it, we just have to wait and see, and watch all-time great baseball moments, like that time the Padres didn’t lose!
