Five major sports leagues, along with the unions that represent the players in those leagues, sent a strongly worded letter Tuesday to state gambling regulators urging strict measures against bettors who harass and threaten players.
The letter — signed by Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), Major League Soccer and the MLSPA, the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the NFL and the NFLPA, and the NHL and the NHLPA — was sent “regarding the escalating threat facing professional players, coaches, and officials: the continued harassment and violent threats from sports bettors.”
The letter noted that states such as Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana, and Wyoming have already put in place ways to ban such fans from sportsbooks, but that other states need to get on the ball and do the same.
Uniform rules
The letter takes it a step further, asking for uniform rules across the country. The proposal includes a mandatory lifetime ban from sportsbook use for any person who is proven to have harassed or threatened any athlete (be they professional or amateur), coach, official, team personnel, or their families.
The leagues and unions are also asking for a “standardized, cross-operator reporting framework” that would allow teams and players to safely and securely share threats they have received, and they urge that anyone banned in one state should be banned across all states.
They are also asking for operator accountability, calling on the sportsbook operators to “proactively monitor, flag, and ban accounts linked to abusive behavior,” and if they can’t do that, their license to operate a sportsbook would be jeopardized.
“The safety and well-being of players, coaches, officials and their families must always come before a wager,” the letter concludes. “As game participants do their utmost to protect integrity, abusive and violent threats should not serve as a deterrence 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.”
This letter did not come out of nowhere, as there have been numerous documented cases of athlete harassment.
In June 2025, Houston police identified a bettor who threatened Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his family, which McCullers said included a threat to “find my kids and murder them.” Police later identified the bettor.
The same week, FanDuel banned a bettor who had filmed himself following and heckling Olympic sprinter Gabby Thomas at a meet, then bragged online that he had “made Gabby lose” and won his parlay.
That case helped prompt FanDuel to explicitly spell out its anti-harassment policy.
Furthermore, a 2024 NCAA study reported that harassment related to sports betting makes up about 12% of all social media abuse directed at student-athletes, coaches, and officials.
