EndGame: The Pitch-Rigging Trial Has Started

The U.S. sports betting world moves quickly and unpredictably in 2026. In order to properly take stock of it all, we offer InGame’s “EndGame,” an end-of-week compilation of the top storylines, some overlooked items, and all the other news bits from this past week that we found interesting.

Catcher at Clase, Ortiz trial: Nothing unusual

MLB catcher Bo Naylor, who played for the Cleveland Guardian for five seasons, testified Thursday that he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary about pitches that are under the microscope in the rigged-pitches trial of Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, ESPN reported. Naylor, now a Milwaukee Brewer, was the catcher in 14 of 16 of Ortiz’s 2025 games, including one in which Ortiz is accused of throwing a rigged pitch. Naylor also caught seven of the 18 alleged rigged pitches thrown by Clase.

One of three former Guardians catchers on the defense witness list, Naylor testified out of order because he is headed to Italy to get married. The defense is calling the catchers to further its argument that Clase and Ortiz did not throw predetermined pitches to benefit bettors, but that they threw the pitches as part of their game strategy.

While waiting for any response from EDNY Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, from whose baseball bribery US v. Clase and Ortiz trial I was removed by prosecutors' spokesman and DE Corcoran's Loguercio https://t.co/frsqlqK7Vw here's video shown inside the courtroom today, 1/3 pic.twitter.com/Hl6ZleMb4j
— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) November 4, 2026

Clase and Ortiz are accused of making certain pre-planned pitches and alerting bettors ahead of the pitches so they could place winning wagers. Some of the alleged rigged pitches were at a slower speed while others were outside of the strike zone. The case is being heard in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

During opening arguments Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Urquiola called the pitchers “cheaters” who “sold their pitches.” Co-defendant Luis Arismendy Paca Méndez allegedly was the liaison between the pitchers and bettors. Clase’s attorney positioned his client as an uneducated “mark” who was taken advantage of, while Ortiz’s lawyer said his client was a victim of a gambler’s lies, reported The Associated Press. The trial is expected to last into early December.

— Jill R. Dorson

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Naylor: Nothing unusual about Clase, Ortiz pitches at center of trialhttps://t.co/WIUmjSHn1K
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) November 6, 2026

House subcommittee to hold wagering hearing

The U.S. House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development has scheduled a hearing titled “The Rise of Sports Gambling on College Campuses” for 10:15 a.m. Wednesday. The meeting notice and press release do not list the witnesses for the hearing.

Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah, who played college football at Miami and was a first-round NFL draft pick by the New York Jets in 1973, is the chair of the subcommittee. Congress has held a handful of hearings about sports betting since late 2024 as it explores whether to introduce federal guidance to what the U.S. Supreme Court made a states’ rights issue in 2018.

— Jill R. Dorson

Senator to reintroduce Ohio betting bills

Ohio state Sen. Bill DeMora told SBC Americas Tuesday that he will resume his push for sports betting and prediction market legislation in 2027. Mora, a Democrat, introduced bills this year that would add prediction markets to the definition of sports betting in Ohio and ban election betting. Adding prediction markets to the definition of sports betting would then require them to be licensed by the state.

Ohio is in court with Kalshi over its offering of sports event contracts in the state. The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in September ruled that the state could enforce its gambling laws on the platform.

“Even our Republican governor said that these things are sports gambling,” DeMora told SBC Americas. “I agree with him. We need to regulate them and start taxing them like we’re doing with sports betting.”

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has soured on legal sports betting since he signed it into law in December 2021, is term-limiting out and will be replaced by Democrat Amy Acton.

— Jill R. Dorson

Odds and ends

William Hill is preparing to expand its sportsbook operations in Nevada by adding race and sports wagering at the Terrible’s properties in Indian Springs, Carlin, and Searchlight, CDC Gaming reported. The Nevada Gaming Control Board gave its approval Wednesday to the expansion by William Hill, whose license applications still require consent from the Nevada Gaming Commission, which could do so Nov. 19.
The story of the rise of Paddy Power as an international gambling giant is set to be made into a feature film, Variety reported. Appropriately for the story of a bookmaking institution based in Dublin (and now known as Flutter Entertainment after a merger), the film is to be produced by an Irish filmmaking company, Playhouse Studios, and star Irish actors including Brian Gleeson and Aidan Gillen. The story will be based on a book by Aaron Rogan, Punters: How Paddy Power Bet Billions and Changed Gambling Forever.