Major Sports Leagues Push for Permanent Betting Bans on Bettors Who Threaten Athletes

North America’s five largest professional sports leagues and their players’ associations have joined forces to ask gambling regulators to get tougher on sports bettors who threaten or harass athletes and other personnel.

In a letter obtained by The Associated Press (AP), the National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Soccer (MLS), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), along with their players’ associations, asked gambling regulators in 35 states and the District of Columbia to permanently revoke the wagering privileges of bettors found to have threatened or “abusively harassed” professional or amateur athletes, coaches, officials, team personnel or their families.

Permanent Betting Bans Sought

The letter cited escalating threats from sports bettors.

“While the expansion of legal, state-regulated sports betting has brought new ways for fans to engage with their favorite sports, it has also introduced some negative consequences for players and other personnel involved with professional sporting events,” the leagues and players’ associations wrote, via AP. 

“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.”

The letter noted that Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming already have mechanisms to exclude “bad actors” from legal sports betting.

Athletes Face Escalating Threats

The leagues and the players’ associations are seeking more consistent rules across regulated U.S. markets to address the problem. In the letter, they called for state-regulated sportsbooks to “permanently revoke wagering privileges for any individual verified to have abusively harassed or issued threats of violence against any professional or amateur athlete, coach, official, team personnel or their respective families.”

There have been many notable recent examples of abuse by sports bettors directed at athletes.

Fred VanVleet of the Houston Rockets said last February an angry bettor approached him at church over a lost wager.  Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said he and his family received social-media death threats after he allowed seven runs while recording only one out in a game against the Cincinnati Reds last season.

Players Detail Bettor Abuse

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito also spoke publicly last season about threats directed at him and his girlfriend after a rough outing.

“It’s getting worse by the year, by the week, by the day,” Giolito told a podcast in July 2025. “So, I know that there are very easy things you can do. You know, you can go private on social media. You can block accounts. It only goes so far.”

FanDuel launched its own public athlete-harassment policy, saying that when it identifies customers who harass athletes, it can take action, including suspending or banning their accounts.