Share 
Louisiana is on its way to send a stern message to toxic sports bettors: Keep your social media rage to yourself or lose your chance to place future sports bets.
State lawmakers recently passed Senate Bill 325. It’s designed to ban anyone who threatens or harasses athletes, coaches, or referees over a lost wager.
Sponsored by Sen. Mike Reese, the bill passed through the Legislature and is now sitting on Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk.
If the governor signs the bill into law, the new sports betting rules will kick in Aug. 1.
Harsh penalties for non-compliance
For anyone who has ever scrolled through social media after a high-profile game, the backstory here is predictable. Angry gamblers who watched their money vanish on a missed free throw or blown coverage have been flooding social media accounts of players and coaches with toxic abuse, Reese said.
“Athletes across college and professional sports are increasingly facing harassment and threats from individuals with betting interests, especially as legal sports wagering expands nationwide.”
An NCAA report found that one in three high-profile student athletes had received abusive online messages from people with betting interests.
Louisiana plans to solve this problem by hitting the trolls where it hurts the most: their mobile betting apps. Under the new law, if someone sends a threat of violence or harm to anyone involved in a sporting event and it is tied to a bet, their name will be flagged and sent directly to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.
Regulators will then place that person’s name onto the official state exclusion list. The list includes criminals, cheaters, and now, internet bullies. Once someone is on that list, they are completely cut off from wagering on sports in the state. Mobile operators will deactivate their accounts, and retail sportsbooks will ban future wagers.
SB 325 reads:
“Any person who has been placed on the list of persons to be excluded or ejected from any gaming establishment …. may be imprisoned for up to six months or fined not more than five hundred dollars, or both if he thereafter enters or attempts to enter the premises of a gaming establishment without first having obtained a determination by the board that he should not have been placed on the list of persons to be excluded or ejected.
“The board may impose sanctions on a licensee, permittee, or casino gaming operator … if the licensee, permittee, or casino gaming operator willfully fails to exclude from the licensed gaming establishment a person placed on the exclusion list. The board may seek revocation or suspension of a license, permit, or casino operating contract if the licensee, permittee, or casino gaming operator engages in a pattern of willful failure to exclude from the licensed gaming establishment persons placed on the exclusion list.”
No tears shed by sportsbooks
Do not expect the big gaming companies to shed any tears over losing these customers. Operators like FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM have said they are fully on board with clearing out the bad apples.
Deplatforming aggressive trolls helps sportsbooks protect their own corporate branding, keeps the peace with pro leagues, and shields them from a heavier regulatory hammer down the line.
Besides, a bettor who loses a $50 parlay and resorts to criminal harassment is more of a customer service nightmare than a high-value client.
Louisiana is not alone in targeting online harassment of athletes and coaches. Ohio and West Virginia have already given their gaming commissions the teeth to ban aggressive bettors.
