Sept 15 – Five major U.S. professional sports leagues and their players’ associations called on state regulators on Tuesday to permanently bar sports bettors who threaten or harass athletes, coaches, officials and their families.
In a joint open letter, the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League said the growth of legalized sports betting had brought increased abuse from bettors angered by losing wagers. “Threatening the safety of an athlete or their family members over a sports bet crosses a bright ethical and criminal line,” the organizations said in the letter. The letter said that states like Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming already have exclusion processes that can prohibit certain individuals from using licensed sportsbooks and mobile betting applications.
The request follows public accounts from athletes across several sports of receiving hostile messages from bettors, particularly over player-proposition bets that can hinge on an individual’s performance rather than a team’s result.
