No American sports league has been fully insulated from gambling scandals since the Supreme Court overturned a federal ban on sports betting in 2018. The NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL have all confronted policy violations resulting in punishments ranging from fines and suspensions to league bans and even federal indictments.
To better understand how betting has affected players, The Athletic compiled responses from its anonymous player surveys this year.
Here are the key takeaways.
What type of harassing messages have players received since sports betting was legalized?
MLB: 78 percent of the 133 players The Athletic anonymously surveyed said legalized sports betting has changed how fans treat them or their teammates. Pitchers Liam Hendricks and Lance McCullers Jr. said they and their families were targeted with death threats.
"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,’” one veteran pitcher said. "That’s too far. We’ve communicated as players to MLB security that we need to get a handle on this before it gets out of control. I don’t want to say this, but something bad is going to happen and it’s going to be like, ‘We told you so.”
- https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6807760/2025/11/14/sports-betting-players-nfl-nba-mlb-nhl/