Cleveland Guardians Quietly Distance From Bet365 Sponsorship

By Brian Pempus

The Cleveland Guardians quietly removed Bet365 Sportsbook’s sponsorship from a lineup card on July 29 amid a gambling probe into two players.

Cleveland pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase are on paid leave while the league investigates allegedly suspicious wagering. The investigation involves so-called micro-bets on whether a pitch would be a ball or strike.

The league announced the Ortiz investigation earlier this month. Media reports later named Clase, an All-Star closer, as part of the same probe. The situation was the biggest gambling controversy for MLB since the Shohei Ohtani scandal.

Currently, the league has not accused either player of wrongdoing.

In the court of public opinion, both players appear to be guilty of wrongdoing. Online sleuths have posted purported evidence of apparently suspicious pitches that began an inning.

The league has not provided a timeline for when the investigation will conclude.

Gambling Harm has images of the lineup cards from this week. In the July 28 card, Bet365 appears at the bottom. In the July 29 card, the words “Presented by Bet365” no longer appear.

July 28 Guardians Lineup Card

July 29 Guardians Lineup Card

Blowback from Guardians-Bet365 Partnership

The investigations have generated significant criticism of baseball’s embrace of sports betting apps. Ohio legalized online sports betting in 2021.

Amid the scandal, the Guardians appear to be distancing themselves from a partnership with Bet365 Sportsbook, one of the gambling apps sanctioned in Ohio.

In 2023, the Guardians announced a partnership with Bet365.

Dozens of fans quickly noticed the change to the lineup card, posted to the Guardians’ social media on Tuesday.

“No Bet365,” one fan observed. “Hopefully there’s been a cleansing” from gambling.

According to another observer, the Guardians on Tuesday originally posted a lineup card with the Bet365 logo before deleting it and reposting the image without the Bet365 logo.

“They deleted the original post, then got rid of their ‘BET 365’ ad at the bottom of the card,” said another fan. “Pathetic honestly. I thought MLB loved gambling now? What changed? Did legalized sports gambling actually impact the product on the field or something? Are famous MLB players now getting caught for betting on their sport?”

Bet365’s logo also appears behind home plate at Guardians games. It’s unclear if the ballpark logos are still being used amid the gambling probe.

Gambling Harm’s request for comment from the Guardians was not immediately returned on Wednesday.

The league did not name Bet365 as part of the probe.