As regulated sports betting continues its blitz of US States, one unexpected issue has popped up over and over; harassment of college athletes by aggrieved bettors. This harassment has become so severe, both online and in-person, that state gaming regulators have been forced to take action. The latest state to join that club is Wyoming, which recently voted to punish those who harass college athletes.
Under the terms of the new regulations, anyone who harasses a college athlete because of their play can be banned from betting in the state. Harassment is defined as, “Harass” means to engage in conduct, including but not limited to verbal threats, written threats, electronic threats, lewd or obscene statements or images, vandalism or nonconsensual physical contact, directed at a person the [offender] knew or should have known would cause a reasonable person to suffer: substantial emotional distress; substantial fear for their safety or the safety of another person; or substantial fear for the destruction of their property.”
Wyoming is taking a different approach to the issue than other states such as Ohio, which bans college-level player props entirely; and Iowa, which only bans in-state college-level player props. Cowboy State regulators were heavily influenced by Sports Betting Alliance lobbyist, Scott Ward, who suggested that a player prop ban would push gamblers to the black market.
“We all agree that harassment of student athletes is bad and something that should not be tolerated. The question then becomes, is banning prop bets going to eliminate the harassment of athletes?,” he explained in comments reported on by Covers.com.
The Commission’s new harassment policy is already in effect and is supported by the University of Wyoming.