Major League Baseball released a comprehensive report Tuesday reprimanding former Los Angeles Dodgers interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, citing profound disappointment that his massive sports betting scheme entirely bypassed the league's revenue-sharing gambling partners.
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball released a comprehensive report Tuesday reprimanding former Los Angeles Dodgers interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, citing profound disappointment that his $16 million sports betting scheme entirely bypassed the league's official, revenue-sharing gambling partners.
The 12-page memo from Commissioner Rob Manfred cleared Shohei Ohtani of any wrongdoing, but reserved harsh criticism for Mizuhara's decision to utilize an illegal California bookmaker rather than seamlessly integrating his catastrophic financial ruin into the BetMGM or FanDuel ecosystems.
We invest heavily in our in-stadium sportsbook infrastructure to ensure that when franchise personnel develop life-destroying gambling addictions, those massive losses stay within the baseball family.
League lawyers noted that had Mizuhara placed his staggering volume of wagers through an approved partner, he would have instantly qualified for VIP Diamond status, earning enough loyalty points to cover his federal legal fees and potentially unlocking a luxury suite for his sentencing hearing.
At press time, the Dodgers organization was exploring all civic-partnership opportunities to subsidize the $16 million hole in Ohtani's bank account, formally requesting that Los Angeles taxpayers issue a municipal bond to make the designated hitter whole before the postseason.