NFL, NHL, Other Leagues Push for Lifetime Betting Bans Over Player Harassment
Five major U.S. sports leagues want regulators to permanently bar bettors who threaten athletes, as prediction-market fights escalate in several states.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited by the ON360 newsroom.
Five major North American sports leagues, along with their players’ associations, have asked gambling regulators in 35 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., to impose lifetime betting bans on anyone verified to have harassed or threatened players, coaches, officials or their families. Gambling Insider reports the joint letter, sent September 15 by the NFL, MLB, MLS, NBA and NHL, warns of an “escalating threat” of betting-related abuse.
Leagues Demand Uniform Anti-Harassment Rules
The letter pushes for three concrete measures. Regulators should mandate permanent bans for confirmed harassers, build a cross-operator system so leagues and teams can report verified threats to regulators and police, and require sportsbooks to actively monitor, flag and shut down accounts tied to abusive behaviour.
“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,” the leagues wrote, according to Gambling Insider. They added that player safety “must always come before a wager.”
The letter arrives as legalized sports betting keeps expanding across North America. Bettors venting frustration at athletes online is not new, but the leagues’ coordinated push signals they want regulators to treat it as an enforcement priority, not an afterthought.
Some States, Operators Already Act
Ohio, West Virginia, Louisiana and Wyoming already have anti-harassment provisions on the books, the leagues noted. BetMGM has also introduced its own policy banning bettors who target athletes, a step the letter cites as a model worth replicating industry-wide.
No Canadian province appears among the 35 recipients, since the request targets U.S. state regulators. Still, operators such as BetMGM run licensed books in Ontario through iGaming Ontario, and any U.S. policy shift on account bans could shape how those same companies handle abusive bettors north of the border. Ontario-licensed sportsbooks already provide deposit limits and self-exclusion tools, and players concerned about their own betting habits can reach provincial support lines for help.
Prediction-Market Fights Continue in Court
The harassment letter landed amid a separate wave of legal action over prediction markets. Underdog filed a federal lawsuit September 15 against Connecticut officials, arguing the state cannot regulate its event contracts, days after Connecticut issued cease-and-desist orders to nine prediction-market firms on September 10.
Novig, ProphetX, Gemini and Webull have instead opened talks with Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection. Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli said the department is “working with those who have responded on next steps.”
Kalshi, meanwhile, has appealed a September 8 ruling denying it a preliminary injunction in Iowa, taking the case to the Eighth Circuit. It has already won in the Third Circuit over its New Jersey dispute but lost before the Ninth and Tenth circuits in cases tied to Nevada and Utah.
Separately, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig met leaders of 17 Tribal organizations this week to discuss prediction markets and event contracts. Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association Chairman Matthew Morgan said afterward that the commission’s approach “undermines revenue streams that are critical to Tribal government programs and services,” and that the roundtable does not satisfy the formal government-to-government consultation Tribal nations are seeking.
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