Five major U.S. professional sports leagues and their players’ associations have asked state gambling regulators to permanently bar sports bettors who threaten or harass athletes, coaches, officials or their families. The NFL, MLB, MLS, NBA and NHL made the request in a joint open letter sent to state regulators on September 15. The organizations are seeking permanent restrictions on betting accounts linked to verified threats of violence or abusive harassment, along with a standardized process for reporting such conduct. The request comes as legal sports betting has become available across much of the United States, giving bettors access to wagers on individual players as well as game outcomes. The leagues’ proposal would require state regulators and sportsbooks to take a more consistent approach to people accused of threatening sports figures over betting results.
What the NFL, NBA and MLB Are Asking Regulators For
The five leagues and their players’ associations are asking state gaming commissions to require licensed sportsbooks and mobile betting operators to permanently revoke wagering privileges from people who are verified to have issued violent threats or engaged in abusive harassment.
The joint letter went to regulators in 35 states and Washington, D.C., according to Reuters. The organizations also called for a standardized reporting system that would allow verified evidence of threats to be submitted to regulators and law enforcement.
The proposal would extend beyond professional athletes. The groups are seeking measures covering athletes, coaches, officials, team employees and their families, including people involved in amateur sports. The aim described in the letter is to give regulators and sportsbooks a common process for handling cases in which betting-related conduct crosses into threats or abusive harassment.
The leagues also want sportsbooks to identify and flag accounts associated with verified abusive conduct. Under the proposal, maintaining a state operating license could be tied to sportsbooks having procedures for excluding such accounts.
Some states already have systems that can prevent certain people from using licensed sportsbooks. Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming are among those cited by the leagues. The organizations are asking other jurisdictions to adopt similar safeguards and for exclusions imposed in one state to be recognized elsewhere.
The letter follows public accounts from athletes in several sports who have received hostile messages from bettors, particularly following wagers on individual player performances. Player-proposition bets can depend on statistics or actions by one athlete, rather than whether their team wins or loses.
Why Murphy v. NCAA Made This a State-by-State Problem
The leagues’ request comes within a U.S. sports betting system that is largely regulated at the state level. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA, in Murphy v. NCAA. The court found that the federal law’s prohibition on states authorizing sports gambling violated the Constitution’s anti-commandeering principle.
The ruling did not itself legalize sports betting nationwide. Instead, it removed the federal restriction that had prevented states from changing their own laws, leaving individual states to decide whether and how to permit sports wagering.
That state-by-state structure is central to the leagues’ proposal. A bettor excluded from one state’s sportsbooks may otherwise encounter different rules after moving to or wagering through another jurisdiction. The leagues are therefore asking regulators to establish similar standards and recognize exclusions across state lines.
The request also places sportsbooks in a more direct role. Rather than relying only on leagues, teams or individual athletes to report threats, the proposal would give licensed betting operators responsibilities for identifying accounts connected to verified abusive conduct. The leagues are asking regulators to make those practices part of sportsbook licensing requirements.
For now, the September 15 letter is a request to state regulators rather than a nationwide rule. Any changes would depend on individual jurisdictions adopting or modifying their own exclusion and licensing requirements. The organizations’ proposal therefore focuses on creating greater consistency between states while leaving implementation to state gambling authorities.
