Baseball’s New CBA Has Gambling Implications, as MLB Cannot Sell a Player’s Training Data
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MLB’s new CBA blocks the league from selling a player’s biometric data tracked during training sessions, according to Mark Saxon of US Bets. The protective clause comes as sports betting companies increasingly seek data from wearables and optical camera systems to fuel their oddsmaking and prop bets.
“It shall be illegal for Major League Baseball and any club to sell and/or license a player’s confidential medical information, personal biometric data, or any nonpublic data used to evaluate player performance in practices or training sessions,” reads the collective bargaining agreement.
In 2017, Whoop became the first wearable device approved to be worn by players during MLB games. Leagues such as NASCAR, the PGA Tour and WTA have since struck deals to equip their athletes with Whoop’s wrist-worn device to have biometric data such as a player’s live heart rate appear during broadcasts.
“I think there is a world where you’re seeing heart rate data or recovery data leading into a game,” Whoop’s VP of performance science Kristin Holmes told SportTechie in 2020. “You can see heart rate data as a pro golfer approaches a putt, and fans betting on it in real time based on some of that biometric feedback.” Holmes will speak at next month’s State Of The Industry conference in NYC.
MLB already has existing deals with gambling companies such as MGM Resorts and FanDuel to share in-game data from Statcast, the league’s player-tracking system powered by Hawk-Eye’s optical cameras.
The new CBA also gives active MLB players the right to sign sponsorships with sports betting companies for the first time. Earlier this month, NHL star Connor McDavid signed with BetMGM—the first active player in any major U.S. pro league to endorse a regulated North American sportsbook.
As part of the new CBA, all MLB teams are required to set up a hotline to report sports betting-related threats made against players and their families. Last year, gambler Benjamin Tucker Patz pleaded guilty to sending Instagram messages that threatened to kill members of the Tampa Bay Rays after they lost a game.
This upcoming season will see MLB’s first connected in-venue sportsbooks operate at home stadiums for the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks. Chicago’s Wrigley Field also plans to open a DraftKings Sportsbook in 2023.