The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS, joined by their players’ associations, have asked gambling regulators in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 33 other states, plus the District of Columbia, to impose permanent sportsbook bans on bettors who threaten or abusively harass athletes, coaches, officials and team personnel.
A letter sent Tuesday calls for uniform rules that would revoke wagering privileges for verified offenders, create a streamlined route for leagues, teams, players and unions to report abuse to law enforcement, and require licensed operators to identify, flag and close accounts tied to such conduct. The Associated Press, which obtained the letter, said it described an “escalating threat” of harassment and violent threats from sports bettors.
The leagues said messages from losing bettors too often reach players, coaches and their families through social media and in person. “Threatening the safety of an athlete or their family members over a sports bet crosses a bright ethical and criminal line and it is entirely unacceptable,” the letter said.
The proposed rules would make operator action a licensing obligation. Commercial sportsbooks and mobile betting platforms would be required to monitor abusive conduct and permanently exclude bettors found to have engaged in it. DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics Betting and Gaming were among the platforms named in reporting on the requested monitoring system.
Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming already have provisions excluding such “bad actors” from licensed sportsbooks and mobile applications. Pennsylvania legislators had not introduced a comparable bill, according to PhillyVoice.
New Jersey has considered a more narrowly framed measure. Senate Bill S-3375, introduced Feb. 5, would make gambling-related harassment of an athlete at or near a sanctioned event a fourth-degree crime. The offence would rise to third degree where the victim is a student athlete, while a lifetime ban on online and in-person sports wagering would apply after a second or later harassment conviction, or after a related assault conviction. That differs from the coalition’s request for permanent exclusion of anyone found to have threatened or abusively harassed a covered participant.
The push follows prominent episodes of bettor-directed abuse. Track star Gabby Thomas said a man followed her at Franklin Field while shouting personal insults after wagering on her to lose a 100-meter race; he later claimed online that he had “made Gabby lose.” FanDuel banned him from its platform several days later.
The concern also extends to college sports. An NCAA survey of nearly 6,800 students at 153 Division I schools found that 36% of Division I men’s basketball student-athletes had experienced social-media abuse related to sports betting in the preceding year. Among Football Bowl Subdivision football athletes, 16% reported negative or threatening messages. The voluntary, confidential survey was limited to sophomores and above and asked about interactions during the previous year.
As reported in June, Fanatics had already outlined a Pennsylvania-focused programme to suspend or terminate accounts linked to abusive or threatening conduct. PhillyVoice also reported that DraftKings and Fanatics had begun using artificial intelligence to monitor social-media abuse and identify people who harass athletes.
The NCAA has separately urged states and gambling companies to remove college-sports prop bets, and NCAA President Charlie Baker said regulators, lawmakers and operators “can and should do more” to protect student-athletes and competition integrity.
