Why MLB and In-Play Betting Could Be a Perfect Match

Chris Bevilacqua doesn’t have to stretch his imagination too far to envision a future in which a fellow New York Yankees fan attends a game in an entirely new way.

Perhaps he or she opens the game on their YES Network or DraftKings app, watches an inning or two of a low-latency stream, and scrolls down the screen to see automated odds powered by Bevilacqua’s company, SimpleBet. Every 15 seconds or so (now that Major League Baseball will use a pitch clock next season), there will be a new opportunity for action.

Will Aaron Judge’s at-bat result in a single, double, triple, another home run, walk, or something else? Will Nick Pivetta’s pitch be a ball, a strike, or a put-in?

The image on the screen will reflect live action from just a few seconds ago, putting all bettors on an equal footing and largely eliminating any advantage for the 40,000 or so fans who may be at the ballpark and aren’t relying on a stream or broadcast to see what’s going on.

Low-latency streaming is now available from companies such as Phenix Real-Time Solutions. OKBET Baseball Sports Betting uses technology to set betting markets almost instantly, close the market the second the pitcher’s foot hits the rubber, and accurately reset it in time for the next pitch.

The final frontier for revolutionizing how the average fan and bettor experiences baseball is to integrate all aspects into a single-screen experience.

“All of the pieces exist on their own, so it’s not that far away,” said Bevilacqua, co-founder and CEO of SimpleBet. “It’s possible.”

MLB could benefit from in-game betting.

Many people once believed that baseball’s deliberate pace of play would doom it in a world where humans have constant information and stimulation literally at their fingertips. In an ironic twist, baseball’s slow pace and lengthy season may have given the sport a significant advantage in the in-play betting markets, where handheld devices dominate.

Bevilacqua estimates that in-play betting will be a $10 billion industry in 2023, with mobile sportsbooks that can offer it earning about $1 billion in gross gaming revenue.

Bevilacqua isn’t making a wild guess with that figure. Last season, MLB in-play betting began to live up to the hype, with month-over-month growth that was linear. DraftKings, which will launch MLB in-play betting in August 2021, saw its handle increase by 250% year on year. The average MLB game had $147,000 in micro bets placed on it in the final month of the previous regular season.

Baseball’s prominent role in in-game betting does not require advanced math skills. Each season, there are 2,430 major league games, compared to 276 NFL games. On some days, the MLB schedule begins around 12:30 p.m. ET and continues for 12 hours or more until the conclusion of the West Coast night games. On average, each of those games has nearly 300 pitches. What’s the point of that?

“You just have the so-called ‘digital casino,’ which has been open for a long time and has so many betting markets and betting opportunities,” Bevilacqua explained. “A baseball game’s cadence is ideal for in-play wagering.”

Because of the non-stop action of in-play betting and baseball’s nearly infinite supply of potential outcomes, some people are concerned about the dangers of addiction. Experts advise gamblers to reduce their bets for in-play wagering because they will likely place far more wagers.

How about the pitching clock?

MLB announced a series of rule changes for the 2023 season in September, including a clock that will require pitchers to deliver the ball within 15 seconds if no one is on base, and within 20 seconds if any baserunners are on base. In 2022, the average time between pitches was just over 23 seconds.

If the pitcher does not begin his motion before the timer runs out, the batter is given a ball. If the batter takes too long to enter the batter’s box, the pitcher gets a strike. Last season, the use of a similar clock cut about 20 minutes off minor-league game times.

While shortening the amount of time bettors have between pitches, the pitch clock will put an even brighter spotlight on latency issues during broadcasts, but Bevilacqua doesn’t see it as an obstacle his company must overcome. He sees an opportunity as companies other than DraftKings and bet365, SimpleBet’s current largest customers, join the microbetting movement.

Bevilacqua claims that the pitch-level market accounts for roughly 40% of all MLB microbetting.

“Our technology is the only way this product or other pitch-level markets can exist,” Bevilacqua said. “There is no other option. These markets cannot be priced by humans. If you’re a book and want to take advantage of this opportunity, you can’t do it with anyone else but us. That is the punch line.”

Of course, the irony is that the most bucolic sport on the American landscape is also the one leading the most technologically advanced, fastest-paced segment of the sports betting market. It’s a happy coincidence for the sport, which stands to thrive as consumers consume sports in entirely new ways.

“You’re only watching what you want, when you want, on whatever device you want,” explained Bevilacqua. “That kind of liberty puts the consumer in command.” It’s an exciting time, with major media companies grappling with how to transition from mass media to personal media. Technology is at the heart of it all. That’s where we live, right at that crossroads.”