Last week, the five major North American men’s professional sports leagues and their unions sent a letter asking state regulators to address the increased harassment directed at players and staff. The WNBA and NWSL were noticeably absent, leading to backlash, specifically aimed at the NBA for not including its partner league.
Thursday morning, nearly 10 days after the original, the NBA, WNBA, their unions, and the referees and coaches association sent a follow-up letter to state gaming regulators to “echo the calls” of the original sent on Sept. 15.
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The letter, obtained by The Athletic, reiterated the same regulatory action proposed in the previous letter, including mandatory lifetime bans, streamlined reporting mechanisms and operator accountability.
“Members of our organizations are facing a marked increase in betting-related harassment and threats, typically from angry bettors who are on the wrong side of a particular wager,” the letter said in part. “This conduct ranges from shouted harassment in an arena or on the street to violent threats conveyed online or on social media.
“While this behavior is typically directed at players or other game participants, at times it even extends to their family members. All of it is unacceptable, and all stakeholders should do their part to discourage this kind of misconduct and to punish it where they are able.”
Both letters follow increased pleas from athletes across professional and collegiate sports to crack down on threats and harassment directed at them from bettors who lost a wager. The NCAA launched an anti-harassment campaign last March. In February, the Big Ten Student-Athletes Issues Commission sought limitations on prop bets in a letter sent to NCAA president Charlie Baker.
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Women’s National Basketball Players Association executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson expressed her displeasure with the WNBA being left off the original letter in a statement last week.
“It is deeply disappointing that, given the very public and troubling incidents of betting-related harassment experienced by our members over the past several seasons, the NBA determined that WNBA players did not warrant inclusion in a joint position statement intended to address this very issue,” Jackson said.
The National Women’s Soccer League Players Association, like the WNBPA, learned about the original letter after it was published.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
NBA, WNBA, Sports Business, Sports Betting, Betting Controversy
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