The NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS, along with their players unions, have sent a joint letter to gambling regulators in 35 states and the District of Columbia demanding lifetime betting bans for anyone who threatens athletes, coaches, officials or team personnel. The leagues cite 'the growing threat to players, coaches and officials, continuing threats of violence from bettors'.
The organisations are asking bookmakers and mobile platforms to permanently revoke betting privileges for anyone found to have directed abuse or threatened violence against professional or amateur athletes, their families, and team staff. Four states — Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming — already exclude such offenders from licensed sportsbook apps. The leagues are demanding that the remaining 35 jurisdictions adopt similar measures.
Threats have escalated since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in the PASPA case, which opened the door to legal sports betting in the states. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers received threats from a bettor living abroad. California bettor Benjamin Patz sent messages to four Tampa Bay Rays players threatening to 'cut their throats' and, according to federal investigators, attacked more than 300 accounts of professional and college athletes. In 2021, Patz pleaded guilty to transmitting threats in interstate commerce; the judge ordered compulsory treatment and a betting ban instead of prison.
In December 2024, Senator Dick Durbin held the first federal hearings on sports betting in six years, noting that North Carolina centre Armando Bacot received more than 100 threats on social media after failing to hit the rebounding over in a game against Michigan State. The leagues have proposed a standardised reporting system for passing confirmed evidence of threats to state regulators.
