Strike!
Cleveland Guardians pitchers indicted on pitch-fixing charges
Now baseball goes through the sports integrity ringer.
A bill to legalize OSB in Wisconsin is moving rapidly through the legislature.
UK MPs urge the government to “pull the lever” on gambling taxes.
Meanwhile, the UK is to introduce a voluntary code for prize draw operators.
Bad pitch
Moneyball: Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers have been indicted on multiple federal charges tied to an alleged pitch-fixing and gambling scheme.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York unsealed the indictment against closer Emmanuel Clase and starter Luis Ortiz on Sunday, accusing the pair of wire fraud, honest services fraud, bribery and money laundering conspiracy.
Prosecutors allege the players fixed individual pitches to benefit bettors, who won more than $450,000 through online platforms.
The two allegedly agreed to alter pitch speeds and outcomes during select games, tipping information to co-conspirators who then placed winning bets.
Ortiz was arrested in Boston and released on a $500,000 bond, while Clase is on the run.
Foul play: Clase allegedly began cooperating with underground gamblers in May 2023, generating $700,000 in winnings, while Ortiz joined the scheme in June 2025, producing about $60,000 in profits.
Text messages cited in the indictment show Clase coordinated with bettors mid-game and later requested kickbacks “for repairs” in the Dominican Republic.
In one instance, bettors won $68,000 after Clase deliberately threw a pitch below 95mph that was called a ball.
Both players face a maximum of 65 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
You’re gonna need my help: MLB confirmed it had contacted federal law enforcement early in its internal investigation and was fully cooperating.
The Guardians said they will continue to assist both MLB and the DOJ as proceedings unfold.
Clase and Ortiz were both placed on administrative leave earlier this year and did not return for the remainder of the season.
US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said the players “sold their trust to gamblers by fixing pitches,” betraying “the public’s faith in fair play.”
Defense lawyers for both players denied wrongdoing, calling the government’s evidence “weak and circumstantial.”
When will it end: The charges deepen concern over prop betting and player integrity following the recent NBA betting investigation that led to the arrests of Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has pledged “zero tolerance” for gambling breaches while calling for tighter oversight of proposition markets.
The Clase–Ortiz case marks the first criminal prosecution of active MLB players under federal anti-corruption statutes in nearly a decade.
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SJM Resorts said its satellite venue Casino Legend Palace will close tomorrow November 12, following coordination with Macau authorities and its service partner. All gaming tables and machines will be redeployed across other SJM properties. The casino was operated on SJM’s behalf by Macau Legend Development. The move to close the casino is in line with the Macau authorities’ new rules on satellite casinos.
Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting has published new rules for the country’s national gambling self-exclusion scheme. Under the November 10 ordinance, operators must check the Betting Management System (SIGAP) when users open accounts or log in for the first time each day, and at least every 15 days thereafter. If a player is found to have self-excluded, the operator must block betting and close accounts within three days, notifying the user within 24 hours.
Big Daddy Gaming has received approval from the Swedish Gambling Authority to supply its slot games to operators in Sweden. The developer is also pursuing a Malta Gaming Authority licence to expand its European footprint.
Kevin Mullally has resigned as CEO of the United Arab Emirates’ General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority, with chair Jim Murren appointed as interim replacement. Mullally joined the authority at its formation, helping design the UAE’s commercial gaming regulatory framework and aligning it with international standards.
Who knew? A new Kalshi-commissioned poll claims that nine in 10 US voters want access to prediction markets, just as they are now. Conducted by Axis Research, the survey of 1,219 voters found 70% think people should be able to wager on specific outcomes, and 79% believe federal regulators, not states, should be in charge.
New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs has given notice to gambling website 20Bet to stop advertising in the country. The offshore operator is registered in Cyprus but has been targeting New Zealanders with paid ads on YouTube promoting online pokies and sports betting, the government body said.
Call my bluff
Face facts: The UK parliament’s Treasury Committee has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to overhaul the gambling tax system ahead of next month’s Budget, arguing that current rates fail to reflect the differing levels of harm caused by various forms of gambling.
The cross-party committee, chaired by Dame Meg Hillier, concluded that online and machine-based gambling should face higher tax rates than land-based, lower-risk forms, such as betting on horseracing or seaside arcades.
Not keeping pace: The report noted that gambling contributed £3.4bn to the Exchequer through excise duties from a GGY in the year to March 2024 of £15.6bn.
However, it said Treasury policy had not kept pace with the industry’s “mutation” toward online, where GGY has risen to £6.9bn, up 60% since 2015/16, and where “harmful, addictive, high-frequency betting” predominates.
The Committee said the government “must sharpen the differentiation” between forms of gambling that provide community or cultural value and those that “bring no engagement with or benefit to life in our communities.”
Scary monsters: Industry witnesses, including Betting & Gaming Council (BGC) CEO Grainne Hurst, defended gambling’s contribution to jobs and tax revenue and warned of black-market risks if taxes rise.
Citing a Frontier Economics report, Hurst said 1.5m Britons already use unregulated sites, staking £4.3bn annually.
However, academics and former executives, including ex-Paddy Power co-founder Stewart Kenny, dismissed such claims as “scaremongering,” pointing to research showing no link between higher tax rates and black-market activity.
Rule of six: The Committee referenced the somewhat controversial 2023 review by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities that identified gambling-related debt as a “crucial harm” leading to mental illness, family breakdown and crime.
The report also cited the even more contentious claims by the likes of the World Health Organization, which classifies gambling as a serious health risk affecting not just gamblers but “an average of six others.”
MPs criticized industry reluctance to acknowledge these social costs, saying they were “painfully aware” of such harms through constituency casework.
Two-way street: The report recommended two key measures. One is tax differentiation, noting that remote gaming duty and machine gaming duty (standard and higher rates) should always be set above land-based gaming duty to account for higher addiction risks.
The other is an anti-avoidance review, suggesting the Treasury should examine black-market activity and consider further measures to prevent tax avoidance through offshore jurisdictions.
Fun fact: While acknowledging that “gambling can be fun,” the Committee’s conclusion was unequivocal: taxation must be used as a policy lever to mitigate harm.
“We are not convinced that current Treasury policy captures the varying extent of those harms,” it stated, calling for a fairer, harm-weighted approach to gambling taxation.
Not giving up…
Keep on keeping on: Meanwhile, the BGC has released another new study by PwC highlighting a clear link between heavier tax/regulation and growth of unlicensed gambling markets.
According to the analysis, countries such as France (57%), Sweden (35%) and the Netherlands (37%) now have substantial portions of their betting markets operating offshore.
By contrast, jurisdictions such as Spain and Denmark, featuring moderate tax regimes and more open licensing, have only around 11% of gambling occurring outside the regulated sector.
The UK is estimated to have about 5% of online betting and gaming activity unlicensed, up from 3.3% in 2021, representing “hundreds of millions” of pounds in untaxed transactions.
Reducer: The report argues that higher duties and stricter regulation can reduce competitiveness of licensed operators, dampen growth and cut marketing support, while balanced regimes correlate with stronger tax receipts (13% p.a. growth in <25% duty zones vs 9% in higher-tax ones).
Hurst warned that the UK must avoid becoming akin to France or Sweden, where “huge black markets contributing nothing in tax” proliferate.
Wisconsin moves
Easy cheese: A bipartisan bill to legalize OSB in Wisconsin is moving rapidly through the state legislature, with the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Revenue voting 5-3 on Thursday to advance it to the floor less than two weeks after introduction.
The proposal would extend the Badger State’s tribal-managed gambling model to online wagering, using a “hub and spoke” system where betting servers remain on tribal land, mirroring Florida’s arrangement with the Seminole Tribe and Hard Rock brand.
Legislators, tribal leaders and professional sports teams argue that legalization will undercut the black market, generate tax revenue and provide consumer protections.
However, lawmakers have been accused of rushing the process and overlooking the addiction risks of mobile betting.
State Sen. André Jacque warned the change could “feed addictive behavior,” while tribal representatives countered that online betting is already widespread and unregulated.
I’m willing to share this with you: The Sports Betting Alliance, representing national operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings, opposes the bill’s 60-40 tribal revenue-sharing rule, arguing it would deter major sportsbooks from entering the market and trigger “years of litigation.”
If passed, the bill would require the state and tribes to renegotiate compacts and secure approval from the US Bureau of Indian Affairs before going live.
Wisconsin would become the 40th state to legalize sports betting and the first to do so since Vermont and North Carolina in 2023.
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Prize draw code
Eyes on the prize: The UK government will introduce a Voluntary Code for prize draw operators later this year to bring greater consistency, transparency and player protection to the fast-growing £1.3bn market, according to Baroness Twycross, the minister for gambling.
In a written statement to parliament, Twycross said the government recognized that prize draws and competitions – where prizes are allocated by chance but players can enter either for free or by paying – had become a “significant and growing market.”
She noted that they now attract 7.4 million adult participants and there are over 400 operators.
Free for all: These products do not currently require a licence under the Gambling Act 2005 due to the existence of a free entry route.
“The government has made it clear that we want people who participate in prize draws to be confident that proportionate protections are in place,” she said.
“This code will help provide a uniform approach across the sector to strengthen player protections, increase transparency and improve accountability of prize draw operators.”
Swift code: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has worked with the sector for the past six months to develop the new framework, drawing on independent research by London Economics commissioned in 2023 to analyze the market’s size, structure and consumer risks.
Twycross said the voluntary code was designed to allow “swift collective action,” with industry to address emerging concerns without immediately resorting to legislation.
However, she cautioned that “the success of this code will dictate whether this government decides to take further action (including legislation)” if standards do not improve.
The initiative marks the first formal government-backed attempt to create shared standards for prize draws, an area that has grown rapidly through online and
Calendar
Nov 11: Gaming in Germany, Berlin
Nov 18: Sustainable Gambling Conference, Brussels
Apr 28-29: Ethical Gambling Forum 2026, Leeds
May 26-28: Gambling & Risk Taking Conference, Las Vegas
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