{"id":8345844,"date":"2025-08-19T10:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T14:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reason.com\/?p=8345844"},"modified":"2025-08-19T12:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:00:14","slug":"rob-manfred-cant-fix-baseball-but-these-4-changes-might","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/08\/19\/rob-manfred-cant-fix-baseball-but-these-4-changes-might\/","title":{"rendered":"Rob Manfred Can't Fix Baseball. But These 4 Changes Might."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hello and welcome to another edition of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free Agent<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">! Grab some dip and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/1957196819865141636\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">get that chip in today<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, I believe in you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This week we're going to fix baseball once and for all\u2014if only Rob Manfred would listen to the wise subscribers to this newsletter. Then we'll talk about more college football chaos, the sad story of soccer fans who were arrested for rooting for the wrong team, and the benefits of sports betting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But first, NFL season is right around the corner. We have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasy.espn.com\/free-prize-games\/sharer?challengeId=264&amp;from=espn&amp;context=GROUP_INVITE&amp;edition=espn-en&amp;groupId=265e6ebb-ef00-4ddf-8560-a72d159410d9&amp;joinKey=5b8cb986-57f3-3656-ba86-50b492f0408f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">an Eliminator Challenge group<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> just for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Free Agent <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers on ESPN. Pick one different team to win each week and see how long you can go\u2014lose once and you're out. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/fantasy.espn.com\/free-prize-games\/sharer?challengeId=264&amp;from=espn&amp;context=GROUP_INVITE&amp;edition=espn-en&amp;groupId=265e6ebb-ef00-4ddf-8560-a72d159410d9&amp;joinKey=5b8cb986-57f3-3656-ba86-50b492f0408f\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Click here to sign up<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><script>\nvar gform;gform||(document.addEventListener(\"gform_main_scripts_loaded\",function(){gform.scriptsLoaded=!0}),document.addEventListener(\"gform\/theme\/scripts_loaded\",function(){gform.themeScriptsLoaded=!0}),window.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){gform.domLoaded=!0}),gform={domLoaded:!1,scriptsLoaded:!1,themeScriptsLoaded:!1,isFormEditor:()=>\"function\"==typeof 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400;\">The ban on prop bets is coming<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\"<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only in the world of stupid stadium subsidies: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fieldofschemes.com\/2025\/08\/14\/23041\/jazz-mammoth-win-1-a-year-arena-rent-until-2125-how-much-will-that-cost-salt-lake-city\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMK3b5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHp0XS4-lf8rjWwgRKGTYpsY_vk8N4xR8IfzoUTZ4svTTKk-X7n3ukX8m-e1d_aem_2XDN6QLhDf-w_mG9p6-8GA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$1 a year for rent, for 100 years<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. (Nice deal if you can get it!)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I listened to Taylor Swift on the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">New Heights<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> podcast so you don't have to: She went from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/newheightshow\/status\/1957118447617519807\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not knowing what a first down was<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to knowing defensive schemes and top prospects in less than a year (and I give her full credit for that).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Spike Lee docuseries on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheAthletic\/status\/1957110428494184536\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Colin Kaepernick is canceled<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Americans when the NFL first started playing regular season games abroad: Cool, interesting, exciting future. Europeans when soccer teams consider playing regular season games abroad: \"<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6551107\/2025\/08\/15\/barcelona-la-liga-miami-fifa\/?source=dailyemail&amp;campaign=601983&amp;userId=4185288&amp;source=dailyemail\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a grim prospect<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\"<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/cfbcampustour\/status\/1956758941926629676\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nothing like<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> high school football <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CoachCBattle\/status\/1956626752392028176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in the Arctic Circle<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MenInBlazers\/status\/1956126375745568855\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More wild \"football\" geography here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elsewhere in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reason<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: \"<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/08\/17\/what-caused-the-serial-killing-spike-of-the-1970s-and-80s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What Caused the Serial Killing Spike of the 1970s and '80s?<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At least when I do this it doesn't cost me <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/golf\/leaderboard\/_\/tournamentId\/401703530\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hundreds of thousands of dollars<\/a>. (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PGATOUR\/status\/1957187232307028290\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He blamed it on creatine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.)<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben Griffin just 4-putt from inside of 5 feet ???? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rPppY71gKG\">pic.twitter.com\/rPppY71gKG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ForePlayPod\/status\/1957143008656163148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1><b>4 Ways To Fix Baseball<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let's fix baseball, because Rob Manfred can't. The MLB commissioner briefly talked Sunday about how <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOS\/status\/1957259556007907578\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">expansion could lead to geographic realignment of divisions<\/a>. I don't think he meant ditching the historical two \"leagues\" for an eastern and western conference (it would be an insane mistake to mess with baseball's history like that). But geographic realignment won't help much with player fatigue unless baseball also ditches the balanced schedule that has less of an emphasis on divisional games.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Baseball still has a lot of other problems, too. A few weeks ago, I put out an open-ended survey to see how readers would fix the MLB if they were in charge. Some of your ideas were crazy! Others were fun and made sense. Let's get into some of these ideas. My own take will try to juggle what fans want and what owners want.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scheduling: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of you wanted to see more teams (Salt Lake City, followed by Nashville and Charlotte, were the most common suggestions) but fewer games (114, 120, and 154 were all mentioned). My pitch is to expand to 32 teams, but each league only has two divisions with eight teams\u2014an east division and a west division. Your team plays a three-game series against every team in the other league, plus three games home and three games away against the 15 other teams in their own league\u2014that comes out to 138 games. If owners don't want to cut the regular season by 15 percent, add another three games against the seven other teams in your division and that's 159 games. For the postseason, division standings don't matter: Give the top three teams in the American League and National League a bye to the renamed \"first round\" (which becomes best of seven), and have the teams in fourth and fifth do a single play-in game. The team in fourth gets to host\u2014and they start with runs on the board if they had more wins in the regular season than the team in fifth (one run for each win).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Game Rules: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your suggestions got really crazy here: \"Eliminate the home run,\" \"Add a fifth base,\" \"Let them take steroids.\" I'm going to largely advocate for the status quo here, actually\u2014baseball is back on the rise thanks to recent changes, but it's not so different that people think they're watching <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?sca_esv=26624f0eb411dd2e&amp;rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS941US941&amp;udm=2&amp;fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeuYzzFkfneXafNx6OMdA4MRo3L_oOc-1oJ7O1RV73dx3MIyCigtuiU2aDjExIvydX85cOq96-7Mxd4KSNCLhHwZjNl1D--59A3Pz1jRAtenzCJ-qzCnOKtvU69k0YYAuhlzxHSrRNQ-gtEYBj8xSow3FJ3v7l7zsi4eO0Nw9mEGcGVLxNQ&amp;q=calvinball&amp;sa=X&amp;sqi=2&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjTxo6B9JSPAxXdFVkFHYF3CkkQtKgLegQIGRAB&amp;biw=1536&amp;bih=730&amp;dpr=1.25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Calvinball<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The pitch clock has helped with long game times (though I'm concerned about pitcher injuries and would increase it to 30 seconds). The ghost runner in extra innings is not an abomination; it creates drama and speeds the game up (much like the different overtime rules or shorter overtime periods in other sports). I'm neutral on the banned shift. As for changes, the softball-style double first base doesn't seem to have a downside. Baseball is weird and wonderful\u2014and that's why it should go back to the American League having the designated hitter and the National League going without.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Streaming: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most fans never watch a regional sports network when live sports aren't on. Regional sports networks seem to be dying out. Teams should offer fans a paid local streaming option\u2014if people are watching on cable, it's easier to switch the channel to something else anyway. If a game is on national TV (or national streaming), make the feed available on a premium version of the paid local streaming option. MLB shouldn't force change here if teams are happy with their current arrangements, but MLB should be ready to assist with any technological needs related to apps, streaming, etc. Keep it as simple as possible and design it so old fans who grew up listening to baseball on the radio can figure it out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Robo Umpire:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Readers were in favor of robot umpires, but my head and my gut differ on this one. My gut hates change and wants MLB to only use the automated balls and strikes (ABS) system to grade and improve umpires (basically <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/podcast\/243-the-athletic-baseball-show\/episode-772\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">what Max Scherzer said<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Starkville <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">podcast in spring training). My head thinks sports fans want rules enforced as accurately as possible (if they can't be biased in favor of their team). ABS still has\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6366764\/2025\/05\/19\/abs-robot-umps-accuracy-the-windup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a half-inch margin of error<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014what is the average umpire's margin? I don't like it, but if they're more accurate, robo umps are the way to go for balls and strikes\u2014and I bet AI umps for everything else are a decade away unless the umpires union can stop it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b>What's in a Playoff?<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NCAA must be delighted that \"week zero\" college football games start this weekend, because yet again, the sport is mired in negative news. People are busier <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RossDellenger\/status\/1956751635457159524\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">yelling about the College Football Playoff format<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than they are about the upcoming season. Everyone's whining because they think Michigan cheated in 2023 but didn't get punished harshly enough (thankfully, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByPatForde\/status\/1956386480147861742\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">long precedent<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NicoleAuerbach\/status\/1956371248201474359\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">punishing current athletes for their program's years-old issues is dead<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). And apparently we're not going to get <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOS\/status\/1956053982729646449\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a proper RedZone show<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe the NCAA prefers the playoff format debates to having employment status and unionization in the news. There's no going back down now, but it's a shame they skipped over an eight-team playoff, which is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JRussellMI\/status\/1956878930482237904\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">so clearly the right number<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for getting in all the strongest teams with a valid claim on the title, plus an outlier or two from the dark horse conferences. But insanity rules the NCAA, not good sense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eight is great. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RossDellenger\/status\/1956751635457159524\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twenty-plus teams<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is silly and I'm ashamed of the Big Ten, my favorite conference, for putting it out there. The 10th- through 20th-best teams in the country don't deserve a shot at the national championship, or that championship will start to mean less and less.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b>Jailed Fans<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communism and socialism corrupt everything they touch\u2014even sports. My colleague C\u00e9sar B\u00e1ez has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/08\/13\/he-took-a-bus-to-watch-his-soccer-team-instead-he-ended-up-in-a-venezuelan-prison\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a heartbreaking story out of Venezuela<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"Fans of Deportivo T\u00e1chira wanted to see their team play in the league final,\" he writes. \"The mafia state made sure most never made it.\"<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it turns out, the other team had some strong political connections: They're owned by Col. Alexander Granko Arteaga, who specializes in torture centers and forced disappearances as a senior officer in Venezuela's military intelligence unit. \"Granko's team shares its name with Venezuela's oldest public university but has no affiliation with the school and never received permission to use the name. The university has objected, but Granko is a powerful man\u2014powerful enough to ignore them and even install his talentless 16-year-old son as a regular starter.\"<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it wasn't just sporting hijinks\u2014a bus full of Deportivo T\u00e1chira fans was still stopped for hours on their way home, and most of the fans were briefly detained. Five men still are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Granko's power-hungry message to opposing fans is quite clear: Root for your team at your own risk.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b>Betting's Benefits<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone who's seen media reports about sports betting legalization knows the negatives. But what about the positives?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5374532\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new paper<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by Seton Hall University Professor Kurt W. Rotthoff actually tries to quantify the benefits of legalization. Combined with the costs, he wrote that \"the impact of legalized sports betting is positive.\" To reach that conclusion, he looked at increased tax revenue, better scrutiny over game fixing and player harassment, as well as additional resources for addicted gamblers. Plus, when it comes to those studies that say betting legalization is causing terrible things, Rotthoff wrote that there is \"a lack of evidence of a causal connection&hellip;calling into question the utility of the studies.\"<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rotthoff's conclusion expresses a sentiment I've always shared: \"Sports betting is a form of entertainment that is not all that dissimilar to other forms of entertainment.\"<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><b>Replay of the Week<\/b><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rob Manfred definitely can't fix this.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">FROM A ROBBED HOMER TO A 2-RUN BLAST FROM WILYER ABREU!<\/p>\n<p>SHOUTOUT THE BULLPEN WALL! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KTZ34FFsvv\">pic.twitter.com\/KTZ34FFsvv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tylermilliken_\/status\/1957146530344743233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That's all for this week. Enjoy watching the real game of the weekend, Sam Houston vs. Western Kentucky in football (Saturday, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Grab some dip and get that chip in today, I believe<a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/08\/19\/rob-manfred-cant-fix-baseball-but-these-4-changes-might\/\">&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1121839,"featured_media":8345845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"post_subtitle":"Plus: College football insanity, fans jailed in Venezuela, and the benefits of betting","footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_integration_method":"","beyondwords_language_code":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_source":"","beyondwords_output":"","beyondwords_script_template_id":"","beyondwords_video_template_id":"","beyondwords_video_size":"","beyondwords_embed":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":""},"categories":[102563,104039,101570,101533,100158,103734,100140],"tags":[101951,102421,102257,100289,101616,101025,100440,101152],"newsletter":[751610],"ttd_topic":[642548,604732,593981,758339,606933,605307,609824,620794,594396,594005,599105,758342,594216,598013,595924,594421,614516,758340,596193,614996,593908,612320,611636,600194,594702,758343,758341,593989],"coauthors":[{"display_name":"Jason Russell","id":521749,"user_id":1121839}],"class_list":["post-8345844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy-sports","category-football","category-jail","category-mlb","category-online-gambling","category-soccer","category-sports","tag-baseball","tag-betting","tag-college","tag-communism","tag-gambling","tag-socialism","tag-steroids","tag-venezuela","newsletter-free-agent","ttd_topic-alexander-granko-arteaga","ttd_topic-american-league","ttd_topic-artificial-intelligence","ttd_topic-benjamin-griffin","ttd_topic-big-ten-conference","ttd_topic-cbs-sports-network","ttd_topic-colin-kaepernick","ttd_topic-college-football","ttd_topic-espn","ttd_topic-europe","ttd_topic-jason-russell","ttd_topic-max-scherzer","ttd_topic-michigan","ttd_topic-mlb","ttd_topic-nashville","ttd_topic-national-collegiate-athletics-association","ttd_topic-national-league","ttd_topic-new-heights","ttd_topic-nfl","ttd_topic-rob-manfred","ttd_topic-salt-lake-city","ttd_topic-seton-hall-university","ttd_topic-spike-lee","ttd_topic-taylor-swift","ttd_topic-venezuela","ttd_topic-western-kentucky-hilltoppers-football","ttd_topic-wilyer-abreu","ttd_topic-twitter"],"acf":{"post_subtitle":"Plus: College football insanity, fans jailed in Venezuela, and the benefits of betting"},"subtitle":"Plus: College football insanity, fans jailed in Venezuela, and the benefits of betting","categories_and_tags":[{"name":"Sports","id":100140,"taxonomy":"category"},{"name":"MLB","id":101533,"taxonomy":"category"},{"name":"Baseball","id":101951,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Steroids","id":100440,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Football","id":104039,"taxonomy":"category"},{"name":"College","id":102257,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Venezuela","id":101152,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Soccer","id":103734,"taxonomy":"category"},{"name":"Jail","id":101570,"taxonomy":"category"},{"name":"Socialism","id":101025,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Communism","id":100289,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Gambling","id":101616,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Online Gambling","id":100158,"taxonomy":"category"},{"name":"betting","id":102421,"taxonomy":"post_tag"},{"name":"Fantasy Sports","id":102563,"taxonomy":"category"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8345844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1121839"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8345844"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8345844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8345882,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8345844\/revisions\/8345882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8345845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8345844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8345844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8345844"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter?post=8345844"},{"taxonomy":"ttd_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ttd_topic?post=8345844"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reason.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8345844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}