When looking to get around the rules of gambling in major league baseball, look no further than the owners of the Detroit Tigers. They managed to keep the Tigers and snag a gaming license at the same time. It is all about company organzatio9n. Back in 1998, Michigan was looking to bring in gambling and they wanted a piece of it. However, as the rules of Major League Baseball clearly state, baseball club owners cannot hold any sort of financial interest in a gambling enterprise. 

They decided it would be best to have one of their family members leave the baseball business and enter the gambling business. In 1992, the Tigers were purchased by Mike and Marian Ilitch. In 1997, Marian let go all of her shares of the team and went after a casino instead. However, she is still the manager of the company that handles the family holdings, including the Detroit Tigers.

 It just makes sense that if they can do it, so can other baseball owners. Now with Pennsylvania in the slot machine business, perhaps the Pittsburgh Pirates should look into a little divesting of their own.  They already own the Somerset County Ski Resort which is in the process of applying for a slots license with the intention of bringing in up to 500 slot machines.  MLB is giving them a hard time, but if they take a page out of the book from the Tigers, they should be just fine.

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