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Five major professional sports leagues and their players associations are asking state gambling regulators to toughen protections against threats and harassment tied to sports betting.
According to the Associated Press, the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, Major League Soccer and the NHL sent a letter Tuesday to regulators in 35 states and the District of Columbia. The groups asked for rules that would permanently revoke wagering privileges for anyone verified to have threatened or abusively harassed an athlete, coach, official, team employee or their family.
Leagues cite harassment tied to losing bets
In the letter, the leagues and unions said legal sports betting has created new fan engagement but also brought “negative consequences for players and other personnel involved with professional sporting events.” They said losing bettors too often direct threatening or harassing messages at players, coaches and family members through social media and in-person encounters.
The letter described “the escalating threat facing professional players, coaches, and officials” and called threats tied to a sports bet “entirely unacceptable.”
The requested protections would cover professional and amateur athletes, coaches, officials, team personnel and their families.
Regulators already have some examples to follow
The AP report said Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming already exclude “bad actors” from licensed sportsbooks and mobile betting apps. The leagues and players associations are now asking for broader, more uniform rules across legal betting markets.
Their request urges state gaming commissions and policymakers to adopt legislative and regulatory guardrails, including permanent loss of betting access for people found to have issued threats of violence or abusive harassment.
What bettors should watch
This is a regulatory request, not a new nationwide rule. The report did not say which states may act first or what exact language regulators could adopt.
For sports bettors, the clearest takeaway is that major leagues want stronger account-level penalties for threatening behavior, not just criminal enforcement. If more states follow the approach already cited in four jurisdictions, sportsbook access could be revoked for verified misconduct linked to harassment or threats.
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Source: As reported by Charles Odum.
