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FIRST ON FOX — The sports betting industry says it’s taking a big step forward in protecting athletes and preserving the integrity of the game with a groundbreaking policy that holds bettors accountable for threats made against players, coaches and officials.
BetMGM will launch a new “Anti-Athlete Harassment Policy” this week that will allow the betting operator to permanently suspend or terminate a customer’s account if it is determined that they have engaged “in abusive, threatening, defamatory or harassing conduct of any kind toward sports officials, coaches, athletes or any other person related to sporting events.”
The “zero tolerance” policy comes at a time when players are denouncing the increase in online harassment amid a rise in sports betting.
Sports betting at Circa Resort & Hotel ahead of Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 10, 2024. (Mario Hommes/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
BetMGM Chief Compliance Officer Rhea Loney spoke with PK Press Club Digital in an exclusive interview about the new policy and explained the motivation behind the need for more explicit protections for players and other sports figures.
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“Harassment of athletes related to betting results is not something that any of us should accept. Athletes being criticized, you know, it’s part of the job,” Loney explained, “But when it comes to threats, abuse, intimidation, it’s just different. And threats, abuse, intimidation and harassment, they harm individuals. They undermine the integrity of the sport.”
Social media has become a major factor in this problem, with fans and punters having easier access to players than ever before. During the summer, Boston Red Sox Pitcher Lucas Giolito said he raised the issue directly with MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito leaves a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning at Wrigley Field on July 18, 2025. (Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images)
“When it comes to gambling, it has obviously created an increase in the number of crazy people online – well, not crazy, just unhappy,” he told the “Baseball isn’t boring.” podcast in July. “I get messages after every game, even games where I’m pitching well and they’re to me because I hit the strike instead of being under, or I was under instead of being under, like prop betting – all these crazy things. And people are putting hundreds of dollars on it, and they don’t have a lot of money, but they’re still playing it because it’s a disease. They’re freaking out.”
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Loney said that regardless of whether these threats are made online, through social media or in person, the definitions of harassment are clear to BetMGM.
“We’re going to investigate this, and we’re going to look at the conduct that’s being reported to us. And I think there’s a clear line – there’s a clear line between fan enthusiasm and there’s a clear line between threats of violence and racial slurs or when fans then say horrible things to athletes because of a certain score in a game.”
“We will not tolerate this,” she continued. “And those are the individuals that we’re going to take action against, and we don’t want them to be on our sports betting platform. We don’t want them to be our customers because they’re undermining the integrity of the game.”
Loney said more information provided on the complaint allows BetMGM to investigate and determine if this person has an account. Complaints can be made to state law enforcement and regulators, BetMGM customer service and via an anonymous hotline. Once BetMGM has enough information, it will launch an investigation.
Loney said that regardless of whether these threats are made online, through social media or in person, the definitions of harassment are clear to BetMGM. (PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
“As a legal marketplace, we know a lot of information about our customers because they have to go through very thorough KYC procedures. We know the names, addresses, emails and these are all the requirements for participants to register and be in the legal and regulated market. “
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In June, Texas police identified a man overseas as the culprit who allegedly made death threats against Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his family in May. Police said the man was “intoxicated” when he made the threats on social media after losing money on a bet.
The Astros hired safety McCullers and his family. McCullers said he had trouble explaining the situation to his 5-year-old daughter.
“She asked me when I got home, ‘Dad, what are the threats? Who wants to hurt us? Who wants to hurt me?'” McCullers told The Associated Press at the time. “So these conversations are difficult to manage.”
Lance McCullers Jr. #43 of the Houston Astros reacts after allowing three runs against the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park on November 1, 2022, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The policy change will explicitly target these types of incidents.
Loney explained that while BetMGM has always reserved this right to hold sports bettors accountable, this new policy makes its position clear.
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“I think what we wanted to do is actually just make this a lot more explicit and, so, you know, even though we have the general ability to have suspensions under our previous terms of service, what we wanted to say, and we wanted to say to the fans, to the sports bettors, is we really want to emphasize that this is zero tolerance.
“We want to make that explicitly clear, and so we edited it to make it more explicitly clear and hopefully send the message that this is zero tolerance, and so I think we edited it to make sure that it was clear that this is not going to be something that we will tolerate and to send that message to fans and sports bettors and also really to promote integrity within our industry, promote respect, integrity and deter this type of conduct that happens.”
