MLB players negotiated "three new concessions pertaining to sports gambling" as part of the new CBA, according to Mark Saxon of USBETS.com. The CBA now "compels teams to take new steps around player safety, bans the sale of players’ biometric and medical data, and frees active players to sign deals to work as brand ambassadors for sports betting operators." Sources said that players have "increasingly brought the potential for threatening behavior from angry bettors to the attention" of the MLBPA. MLB now "presumably will investigate such instances and potentially loop in law enforcement when warranted." The clause banning the sale of players' biometric and medical data would seem to be a "pre-emptive strike at barring MLB or any team from selling such data to gambling-related companies." Presumably, those companies "could benefit by reading players’ underlying health data to project future performance." Previously, only former players had been "free to sign endorsement deals with gambling companies." David Ortiz, for example, "has a deal with FOX Bet." MLBPA lead negotiator Bruce Meyer last week said that the new CBA “allows players to profit from their names and likeness in new ways.” Saxon noted the move is a "stark change of direction from MLB," which once "suspended ex-players Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle for taking jobs with sports betting operations" in the early '80s (USBETS.com, 3/15).
