Losing Bettor Guilty of ‘Terroristic Threats’ to Louisville Cardinals
Posted on: February 18, 2026, 05:34h.
Last updated on: February 18, 2026, 05:36h.
Texas gambler admits threatening Louisville coach, quarterback over $80K loss
Court filings show threats triggered round-the-clock security measures
States and sportsbooks move to curb betting-related athlete abuse
A Corpus Christi, Texas man has been convicted of issuing terroristic threats to members of the University of Louisville football team after losing a $80K bet, The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports.
“I’m going to spend the rest of my life making yours miserable. You cost me $80K last night. You can either pay me or suffer the consequences. You, your girlfriend, and your parents. They will all suffer,” Brian Mandel wrote to Louisville Cardinals quarterback Miller Moss.
Mandel also sent threatening messages to Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm, and others, shortly after the Cardinals’ November 8 loss to the California Golden Bears.
I am going to find and kill you and your entire [expletive] family you piece of [expletive] …” he texted.
The messages were taken seriously enough to trigger “immediate security actions and round-the-clock security,” according to court filings.
Lashing Out
Mandel pleaded guilty on February 17 to one count of terroristic threatening in the second degree, a felony. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to drop six other counts, including five charges of issuing terrorist threats and one of attempted theft by extortion over $10K.
The extortion charge was connected to the threats to Miller Moss and “individuals associated with him,” per court documents.
“While the actions Brian Mandel took were not unheard of – making an uninformed wager on a series of college football games and lashing out after the fact at everyone except himself – the lengths he went to in order to exact ‘revenge’ for his ignorant choices represents something far worse,” Moss wrote in a victim impact statement.
Assistant commonwealth attorney Scott Drabenstadt told the court: “We don’t downplay that for three days in November, in the lives of multiple people, there was a lot of fear, terror and mobilization of resources because it was unknown. It was unknown who this threat person was.”
Mandel will serve two years of an unsupervised sentence during which time he is prohibited from gambling, including friendly bets with friends. He was also ordered to undertake a program of counselling and to make a partial restitution of $1,190 to the University of Louisville for the overtime costs for security and protection resulting from his threats.
Athlete Abuse
A 2025 NCAA-backed study found betting-related abuse accounted for 11% of nearly 4,000 flagged messages to college athletes — roughly double the rate of racial abuse or violent threats — and more than one-third of Division I men’s basketball players reported harassment tied to wagers in the past year.
In response, states including Ohio, Maryland, and New Jersey have moved to restrict or ban college player prop bets and, in Ohio’s case, empower regulators to bar bettors who threaten athletes.
Meanwhile, sportsbooks and industry groups are taking action as well. Operators like FanDuel, BetMGM, DraftKings have warned they are prepared to suspend accounts linked to athlete abuse.
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