5 major sports leagues and players associations ask for protections from sports bettors' threats

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ATLANTA (AP) — Five professional sports leagues and their players associations have aligned forces to ask for protections for players and staff who face threats and harassment from sports bettors.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter sent Tuesday to gambling regulators in 35 states and the District of Columbia. In the letter, the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, Major League Soccer and the NHL and the leagues' players associations asked that rules be established to permanently revoke betting privileges for anyone found to have threatened or “abusively harassed” any professional or amateur athlete, coach, official or team personnel."

The letter to state gambling regulators cited “the escalating threat facing professional players, coaches, and officials, the continued harassment and violent 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. "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.

“Threatening the safety of an athlete or their family members over a sports bet crosses a bright ethical and criminal line and it is entirely unacceptable. It is critical that state and local leaders safeguard the participants of sports at all levels.”

The letter noted that Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming already exclude “bad actors” from licensed sportsbooks and mobile applications. The letter asks for broader protections from the other 35 states and District of Columbia, which do not have similar laws or protections in place since the Supreme Court paved the way for gambling legalization in 2018.

“We call on all state gaming commissions and state policymakers to promptly adopt uniform rules and legislative guardrails to help address this behavior,” the leagues and players associations wrote, asking state-regulated sportsbooks and mobile betting operators “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.”

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