The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board "expects the state’s first online sportsbook to begin live testing sometime in the next two weeks," according to Joe Lemire of SPORT TECHIE. That means, before the end of May, either PNC Park or Citizens Bank Park will become the first MLB ballpark to "host fans legally betting on baseball from their seats." MLB is "often held to a different standard than other sports because of its traditional image as national pastime." But the league is "entering this new era willingly." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “Mobile is a reality. It is going to be the predominant vehicle by which people engage in sports betting." How involved teams get "remains to be seen." MLB Exec VP/Gaming & New Ventures Kenny Gersh recently said that the league is "developing its own predictive contests, although they will not be betting products." The possible red flag Gersh raised about legalized mobile betting in the ballpark is "whether anyone in attendance would have advance knowledge of outcomes on bets being calculated elsewhere -- calculations which might be subject to delays caused by the lag of data transmission" (SPORTTECHIE.com, 5/17).
