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- 🎰 Players receive threats from gamblers
🎰 Players receive threats from gamblers
Juan Soto's free agency, 2026 Olympics pause, Jorge Mateo's return, and more!
Grand Slam Newsletter
June 12, 2024
Today’s starting lineup…
🎰 Players receive threats from gamblers
🥇 Bryce Harper wants next season paused for Olympics
📇 Juan Soto’s free agency contract
And More!
Players fear from gamblers threats
They receive death threats. They are followed home by strangers. They are abused and derided.
They are Major League Baseball players, who can tell you all about the menacing threats that have been inflicted upon their lives since MLB and gambling companies got into bed together.
The Major League Baseball Players Association began publicly voicing concerns about player safety after a Supreme Court decision that ultimately opened the door for it to become legal to gamble on sporting events in 38 states and the District of Columbia, with teams constructing sports-betting sites outside their ballparks.
The union negotiated Amendment 61 to the collective bargaining agreement requiring teams to be proactive in curbing fans’ aggressive behavior toward players.
One MLB general manager told USA TODAY Sports that he received death threats delivered directly to his house, requiring police protection.
"It gets ugly really quickly. It’s scary, and it’s sad. It used to be fans who were upset because you blew the game for the team, but now it’s gambling. These people don’t really care about the Diamondbacks. They just care about their bets, and we’re talking about money they don’t have that they are losing. So, it’s a very scary spot."