Executives and players across professional sports in America have been watching the expansion of gambling with concern… and Major League Baseball is no exception. In March, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed his preference for a federal regulation of sports betting rather than the state-by-state approach, and said he views sports betting as a “great source of fan engagement’’ and “a positive’’ to his sport “in general.’’

“I’m a realist,” Manfred said, via BizJournals.com. “Would I prefer to have a single integrated structure from the federal government? Yes, because it would be easier for us to deal with one set of rules. But the reality is, given the course of the Supreme Court litigation, the federal government wasn’t going to get there in time, and the states were going to proceed. We’ll figure out a way to manage it.”

On Tuesday, Tony Clark, the union chief for the Major League Baseball Players Association, reportedly said his constituency has “concerns over gambling’’ and noted some players “were freaked when bookies began following them on social media soon after SCOTUS ruling.’’ Of course, baseball has a dark history when it comes to sports betting and it’s why there are rules in place that prohibit players and coaches from betting on games.

Read more about players concerns about sports betting at the Silive