While David Price is moved to the bullpen, many Red Sox supporters are concerned whether or not the team will pay a hefty price for the shift. However, we believe that this move is for the best. Price is predominantly a fastball or cutter pitcher, making the move ideal.

With fans keeping an eye on team shifts, teams are up in arms about the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the sports betting ban. How will this affect the sport? In this post we’ll take a look at what team managers and athletes are saying about this.

Are we Losing the Fight Against Fixes?

This is probably the biggest concern of all. If the sports betting ban is lifted in all states, and sports betting is legal, what would prevent fixing certain matches or big sporting events? While it can be a very lucrative opportunity for sports, it can also create opportunity for bookmakers to have their way by buying off players or teams.

There are of course those who believe that the opposite would be the case and that the law would now be able to pick up on any illegal behavior easily.

Vegas as Case Study

While a lot of affected parties are questioning the viability of the legalization of sports betting, Vegas has been offering legal sports betting since as early as 1930. There are multiple cases where the authorities were notified about suspect betting behavior by bookmakers, uncovering serious transgressions.

There should be regulators who run legal sports betting sites with a board of members who can investigate such instances. They should then work with other officials and government officials in uncovering such cases.

Online Betting Landscape Elsewhere

There are multiple locations worldwide where sports betting is offered legally, and all of these institutions are audited on a regular basis. Bookmakers have to be above board to run their sites, and won’t risk losing their income on fraudulent behavior.

While there are dozens of these sites out there, and all legal ones run their shops above board, there will always be cases beyond their control. Recently match-fixing rings have been busted in Greece, Eastern Europe and Spain to name a few.

What the MLB is Saying

In April of this year, the MLB (amongst a few other sporting institutions) players union said that they are supporting the legalization of sports betting. They do however have their own set of requirements and stated that those who lobby for the legalization of sports betting should not be in control.

Both the MLB and the NBA have stepped up and said that leagues should get an integrity fee of 1% garnered from the total pool of bets. This is said to cover costs from compliance efforts and to avoid any opportunity of betting scandals.

Even though some are of the opinion that such a fee may encourage illegal gambling activities, the New York State Senate has introduced legislation that would provide leagues with a 0.25 percent fee.