Five major North American pro leagues and their respective players associations wrote to state gaming regulators on Tuesday to call for a unified crackdown on athlete abuse related to sports betting.
The letter dated Sept. 15, which was obtained by SBC Americas, was co-signed by:
- Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA)
- Major League Soccer and the MLSPA
- The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA)
- The NFL and the NFLPA
- The NHL and the NHLPA
The five largest pro leagues and unions addressed state gaming regulators in light of what they described as “the escalating threat facing professional players, coaches, and officials: the continued harassment and violent threats from sports bettors.”
Leagues call for lifetime bans, multi-state exclusion lists
The letter stated that the expansion of legal, state-regulated sports betting introduced negative consequences for athletes and other personnel involved with pro sports. Most prominent is the frequency and intensity of abuse received from people who staked money on player performances or game outcomes.
“Too often, individuals who lose sports bets direct threatening and harassing messages toward players, coaches, and their families via social media and in-person interactions,” reads the letter. “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 co-signers of the letter laid out core regulatory actions they hope to see taken by state gaming regulators. In particular, the pro leagues and players associations want:
- Explicit rules that would permanently ban any user who is confirmed to have abused or threatened any professional or amateur athlete, coach, official, or team personnel, or their respective families
- A standardized, cross-operator reporting framework to allow pro leagues, teams, players, and players associations to send verified evidence of threats to regulators and law enforcement for possible placement on statewide exclusion lists shared among online sports betting operators
- A system wherein states share banned bettor lists, thereby excluding abusive users across all jurisdictions
Leagues place onus on sportsbooks, regulators
The letter puts the onus on state gaming regulators and their sports wagering licensees to act. Another of the recommendations is that regulators should make gaming licenses conditional on commercial sportsbook partners proactively monitoring, flagging, and banning accounts linked to abusive behavior toward athletes.
Many states already require licensed sports betting operators to work with independent integrity monitoring companies like Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360) and some major sportsbooks have undertaken measures aimed at spotting and stopping abuse.
For instance, BetMGM announced a zero-tolerance policy for abuse in February, vowing to immediately suspend customer accounts where necessary. In June, Fanatics Sportsbook, IC360, and data company Signify Group unveiled their Bad Actor Program, described as “the first industry network designed to identify, alert, and prevent bad actors from creating accounts or placing wagers.”
While the pro leagues and players associations noted that various states have safeguards like exclusion lists in place already, they called for “uniform rules and legislative guardrails” to help curb abuse.
“It is critical that state and local leaders safeguard the participants of sports at all levels,” the letter continues. “… The safety and well-being of players, coaches, officials and their families must always come before a wager. As game participants do their utmost to protect integrity, abusive and violent threats should not serve as a deterren[t] from performing to their fullest. We ask for your support in establishing policies that ensure those who threaten athletes or coaches lose their privilege to participate in sports betting forever.”
Athletes from several pro leagues have spoken publicly of the abuse and threats they face from irked sports bettors. Then-Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito spoke directly to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred last year about the issue, voicing fears that it could escalate to the point that a player gets physically attacked.
US sports scrutinized over betting relationships
All of the leagues that authored Tuesday’s letter have relationships with sports betting, including authorized league-wide sportsbook partners.
In one recent example, the NFL announced official deals with Fanatics, FanDuel, and DraftKings last month that allow the sportsbooks to use league intellectual property, trademarks, and official data, as well as granting them marketing and advertising rights.
Some player associations including the MLBPA also have their own separate image and likeness partnerships with sportsbooks.
Prediction markets the next frontier
Meanwhile, in addition to agreements with state-regulated sportsbooks, MLB, MLS, and the NHL have official prediction market partnerships with the likes of Kalshi and Polymarket that are primarily focused on sports.
Those commercial deals have come under scrutiny from various corners, including from federal lawmakers like Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who wrote to all five of those major leagues (as well as the NCAA) in April to quiz them on their partnerships with sportsbooks and prediction markets.
More recently, in a letter to members of Congress, the MLBPA defended players’ right to strike commercial agreements with sportsbooks in similar fashion to the league’s own deals.
