Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
It’s no secret that the widespread legalization of sports betting has been an unwelcome development for plenty of athletes who’ve been forced to deal with the unhinged behavior of people who take the pastime way too seriously. That includes Gabby Thomas, the sprinter who was recently harassed by a man who has now been banned from one of the biggest gambling platforms.
Anyone who makes a living as an athlete knows they’re probably going to be subjected to verbal abuse from unruly fans at some point in their career given the competitive nature of professional sports.
With that said, there are certain lines that should never be crossed, and while plenty of people leaped across them before the majority of states in America legalized sports betting, there’s been an uptick in unacceptable behavior coinciding with that development that’s been impossible to ignore.
Last year, the NCAA published a study chronicling the spike in betting-related harassment many of its student-athletes have been forced to endure.
Far too many players who’ve made it to the professional level have also shared stories about worrying interactions both online and in real life involving jilted gamblers who’ve targeted them after a wager failed to cash; this week, we learned Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and his famly were subjected to death threats over a poor performance.
Many of those bad actors prefer to hide behind the safety of a screen, but one anonymous troll who goes as “mr100kaday” online headed to the Grand Slam Track event that kicked off in Philadelphia last week with the intention of heckling sprinter Gabby Thomas in the hopes of getting into her head and increase the chances of winning some bets that he placed on FanDuel.
I’m not going to give the guy the attention he obviously craves by directly linking to any of his posts, but he took a victory lap after cashing multiple parlays that partially hinged on Thomas losing the two events she ran in en route to cashing them to the tune of more than $2,000.
On Monday, Thomas called him out for his behavior, and according to ESPN, he’ll no longer be able to place bets on FanDuel after the company confirmed it had banned his account and issued a statement that reads:
“FanDuel condemns in the strongest terms abusive behavior directed towards athletes. Threatening or harassing athletes is unacceptable and has no place in sports. This customer is no longer able to wager with FanDuel.”
Something tells me that won’t be a magical wake-up call for a guy who will probably be able to find other ways to bet while engaging in similar antics, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.