Mar 28, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) reacts after a pitch during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
By Sam Neumann on

Some social media accounts are better at reading the room than others. And well, with leagues and franchises already fully in bed with sports gambling companies, it should come as no surprise that they would promote such a thing. But in the wake of Shohei Ohtani’s scandal, any decision to do so seems short-sighted at best. Enter the New York Yankees.

While North America’s major professional sports leagues made a habit of avoiding even tenuous connections to gambling for decades, that’s changed in recent years. As a sign of how much things have changed, the Yankees used the team’s official Twitter/X account on Thursday to acknowledge that a bet had been cashed.

Following their Opening Day victory against the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees referenced FanDuel Sportsbook’s odds for Thursday’s starter, Nestor Cortes, to record at least five strikeouts (+112). This social media post acknowledged Cortes’ strong start while promoting their official sports betting partnership with FanDuel.

And no, they weren’t shamed into deleting the tweet like the NBA’s Houston Rockets were last November for promoting a Jalen Green prop bet. While this is different from promoting a bet beforehand, acknowledging that your starter had five or more strikeouts in what was a pretty pedestrian outing: five innings, five hits, four runs (four earned), two walks, and a home run, seems like a weird flex at best and tone deaf at worst.

As you might imagine, the reactions on social media were plentiful.

https://twitter.com/matttomic/status/1773520952749662299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1773520952749662299%7Ctwgr%5E78277f5241a6f69c570f1ec801ec2980d0445511%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fmatttomic%2Fstatus%2F1773520952749662299

And with that, the Yankees’ post highlights the fine line teams walk between celebrating the game and potentially alienating fans uncomfortable with the increased focus on gambling.

[New York Yankees on Twitter/X}

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann