MLB Class Action Alleges Cheating Altered Fantasy Sports Results

Major League Baseball, along with the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox, have been hit with a class action lawsuit over claims of MLB fantasy sports fraud.

Lead plaintiff Christopher Clifford says he and others who participated in fantasy baseball and sports betting were victims in schemes perpetrated by the Astros and Red Sox to steal other teams’ pitch signs.

The teams allegedly used cameras to record signals passed between pitchers and catchers of opposing teams and send them in real time to their own players, creating an unfair advantage.

According to the MLB class action, the Astro’s utilized the scheme to go on to win the 2017 World Series and the Red Sox perpetrated their own scheme during the 2018 season, going on to win the 2018 World Series.

This second MLB fantasy sports class action lawsuit says that despite the MLB’s awareness of the cheating, it still encouraged fans to participate in sports betting and “fantasy” baseball.

After the public became aware of the cheating scandal the MLB fined the teams and fired the managers, according to the MLB fantasy sports class action lawsuit.

However, the plaintiff says fans and others who participated in fantasy baseball ended up losing money and were never compensated during the seasons where the cheating took place.

“While luring fans to participate in these fantasy games, MLB member teams were engaging in secret corrupt and fraudulent conduct, in obvious violation of MLB Official Rules and other regulations,” alleges the MLB fantasy sports class action lawsuit. “This misconduct distorted player’s statistics, impacted the outcomes of MLB games and changed the outcomes of fantasy baseball competitions.”

According to the class action lawsuit, the MLB has been investing in fantasy sports betting companies, such as DraftKings for years. In fact, it became DraftKing’s “partner” in 2015, substantially increasing its investments. Clifford points out that with millions of dollars on the line, it is in the MLB’s financial interest to boost fan participation in these activities.

“In fantasy sports, participants assemble virtual teams of real professional sports players which ‘compete’ based on the statistical performance of the assembled players in actual games,” explains the plaintiff. “Participants pay fees to create fantasy teams and compete (tantamount to placing bets) and receive prizes if their teams win. These fantasy leagues (usually played online) have grown wildly popular and now are part of a multi-million-dollar (and, by some estimates, a multibillion-dollar) industry.”

The MLB is also reportedly the main enforcer of the rules and regulations in major league baseball. The league is meant to be the body that protects the “honesty and integrity of the game,” says the plaintiff. However, the MLB allegedly abdicated that position when it began investing heavily in sports betting.

“From the beginning of 2013 through the end of the 2019 season, MLB was cognizant of the fact that its affiliated teams were engaging in deceitful and corrupt behavior that was ultimately distorting player performance statistics and undermining fantasy baseball contests,” states the complaint. “MLB ignored the fraudulent conduct of its constituent teams, and failed to adequately investigate, deter, prevent, remedy and/or disclose said behavior. Instead, MLB condoned fan participation in these fantasy baseball games, despite its knowledge that outcomes were deliberately being corrupted and manipulated.”

This MLB fantasy sports class action lawsuit seeks to represent a Class of fantasy baseball participants nationwide.

Do you think the MLB is responsible for enticing fans to participate in fantasy sports betting, despite allegedly having evidence that teams were cheating? Tell us in the comments below!

Clifford and the proposed Class Members are represented by Kenneth Pickle, Natasha Fernandez-Silber and April Lambert of Radice Law Firm PC and Eric L. Cramer and Patrick F. Madden of Berger Montague.

The MLB Fantasy Sports Class Action Lawsuit is Christopher Clifford v. Major League Baseball, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-01000, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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