Since the Supreme Court abolished a federal ban on sports betting in 2018, no American sports league has been completely shielded from gambling controversies. The NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL have all dealt with rules infractions that have led to fines, suspensions, league bans, and even federal charges.
The Athletic gathered answers from its anonymous player questionnaires this year to gain a better understanding of how betting has impacted athletes.
These are the main lessons learned.
Since the legalization of sports betting, what kinds of harassing communications have players received?
MLB: 78% of the 133 players Legalized sports betting has altered how spectators regard them or their teammates, according to an anonymous study conducted by The Athletic. Pitchers Lance McCullers Jr. and Liam Hendricks said that death threats were directed at them and their families.
One seasoned pitcher stated, “I’ve received (something) as simple as a Venmo request with a threat on it that says, ‘You owe me $9,000 because you blew the game – I need you to send me that money or I’m going to find your family.” “That goes too far. As players, we have informed MLB security that we must address this issue before it spirals out of control. I hate to say it, but something terrible is going to occur, and it will be like, “We told you so.”
One National League position player remarked, “It’s insane.” “It’s ‘f— you, f— your family’ these days.” I’m sorry, S—, it’s an awful day. It’s not like I said, “Bet on me today,” over the phone. The fans are expecting us to win four games a day because of you.
NBA: A number of NBA players have spoken out against tweets from fans that “crossed the line.” Jalen Brunson, the point guard for the New York Knicks, has claimed to have received “some pretty messed up sh–.” It’s worse than the worst things you can imagine.
Approximately one-third of the NBA, or 150 of the 158 players surveyed in The Athletic’s Anonymous NBA Player Poll this year, told our reporters what they thought about sports betting.
One player stated, “I get ten messages, DMs (direct messages) a game, (saying), ‘F— you, I’m gonna f— your family up.”
“Personally, I detest gambling. I detest it when people talk about parlays this and parlays that. I detest seeing direct messages on Instagram saying things like, “You f—– up my parlay.” Another added, “I detest people threatening me because I messed up their parlay.”
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