Gambling has been a part of the sports world for decades now, though for much of the time it has been more in the background and underworld. But over the past few years, that has changed as sports gambling has become mainstream. Gambling is a part of every major sports broadcast these days with commercials flooding the market and the shows themselves giving out best bets, not to mention shows dedicated solely to gambling.
Unfortunately that growth, along with how big social media has gotten, has led to certain people harassing and threatening these athletes when those bets don’t come through. And now the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS, along with their respective players unions, have come together to call for a crackdown on people harassing athletes over sports betting, via Adam Schefter of ESPN:
The NFL, MLB, MLS, NBA and NHL joined with their respective players’ unions today to crack down on betting-related harassment of athletes, coaches and families.
“Threatening the safety of an athlete or their family members over a sports bet crosses a bright ethical and criminal… pic.twitter.com/cRbDoCekYP
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 15, 2026
This has been an issue for many athletes across all sports around the world so the five biggest sports leagues in America, and the players unions, all being able to come together on this says a lot and hopefully will lead to some action being taken.
The group is calling for state gaming commissions and policymakers to adopt uniform rules in order to help curb these issues. Chief among those rules proposed is a mandatory lifetime ban from sportsbooks and mobile gaming sites for anyone confirmed to have harassed or issued threats of violence against any professional or amateur athlete, coach or staff member. There are also calls to establish a system in which teams, players and leagues can submit evidence of threats to state regulators and law enforcement, and for sportsbook partners to be proactive in flagging and banning accounts as well.
Gambling can be a fun way for many to enhance sports viewing, but things have gone too far with how some people treat athletes, especially from the safety of social media. Threatening these athletes or their families is beyond unacceptable and major consequences coming down on those who do so could help to greatly reduce these incidents.
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