MBL Player Confronts Commissioner, League to Clamp Down on Abuse

Lucas Giolito, a player for the Boston Red Sox, has recently acknowledged that he has confronted Major League Baseball and its commissioner, Rob Manfred, asking him how far things ought to go before there is an adequate response against sports fans and specifically sports bettors who abuse professional athletes.

Would It Have to Take a Player Assaulted in Front of Their Home?

Gioloto spoke about this particular experience at the Baseball isn’t Boring podcast and said how he approached Manfred, insisting that the MLB get more seriously involved with addressing athlete abuse.

The professional baseball player has had a bit of a rough patch himself, despite his strong performance. Both he and his girlfriend have been the target of abuse by sports gamblers who have blamed him for not performing in a way aligned with the winning outcome for their bet. This type of behavior has been getting progressively worse.

“One thing I said to Rob … is it going to take a player getting assaulted in front of their apartment building, by some disgruntled guy that lost a bet, for real action to be taken? Because we have cybersecurity. We have all these things. The social media apps themselves, it’s usually Instagram and Twitter where this goes on, they don’t do anything.”

The player also spoke about the nature of this abuse, other than the fact that it was coming from a sports gambler and was usually focused on Instagram and Twitter (sic), now known as X. Gioloto argues that most of the people who heap insults and even threats are the people who are aware of how to hide their tracks.

They usually use burner accounts, for one. Yet, the MLB could do far more. He argues that with today’s level of cybersecurity tools available, the fact that someone is using a fake account does not mean that they cannot be identified by law enforcement if there is sufficient interest.

Gioloto also pointed out that platforms are tone-deaf and purposefully not acting, doubting whether it costs them too many resources to do so. Other than blocking individual accounts, Gioloto said there was not much he and his girlfriend could do.

Win or Lose – There Is an Angry Bettor Ready to Abuse You

Hence why the MLB can do more, the player added. He is not wrong. The NCAA, the body that is in charge of collegiate-level sports, has collaborated with private-sector companies as well as law enforcement to ensure that college athletes are protected and that abusers who issue death threats are tracked.

Top athletes have complained about how they are treated by sports gamblers, arguing that whether they win or lose, they may end up being abused all the same. Some betting companies, FanDuel included, have already acted against such consumers.

In some instances, athletes would be targeted because they won, not only because they lost, with the people betting on their opponents resorting to death threats, abuse, and more.