Fanatics introduces bans for bettors abusing athletes online
Fanatics Sportsbook will now suspend, and in some cases permanently ban, customers who abuse athletes, coaches or officials on social media under a new integrity initiative aimed at tackling betting-related harassment.
The policy will come into effect at the start of the 2026 NFL season and will make Fanatics the first legal sportsbook to join the new Bad Actor Programme, an industry initiative designed to identify and restrict customers who post abusive or threatening content online.
The programme is being launched in partnership with integrity provider IC360 and social media intelligence company Signify Group. Together, the companies will use Signify’s Threat Matrix platform alongside IC360’s ProhiBet system to detect abusive behaviour across major social media platforms.
Social media posts to be monitored
The monitoring will cover public posts on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. Athletes, coaches and officials will also be able to submit abusive direct messages for review. Once investigated, individuals identified as bad actors may be added to a shared database that participating sportsbooks can use to suspend or restrict betting accounts.
In the most serious cases, where threats go beyond online abuse, information may also be referred to law enforcement agencies. The initiative is also open to sports leagues, governing bodies and teams. Signify already works with several sporting organisations worldwide to monitor online abuse and protect athletes from harassment.
“We’ll hold bettors accountable for threats made against players, coaches, and officials.”
-Matt King, CEO, Fanatics Betting and Gaming.
Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King said the company wanted to make it clear that losing a bet is never an excuse for threatening those involved in sporting events. “The scheme falls in line with our core values at Fanatics, respect and tolerance for the athletes and coaches that play the games that we love,” King said.
He also encouraged other regulated sportsbooks to support the initiative, adding that no betting loss should embolden customers to harass or threaten athletes online. Signify Group CEO Jonathan Hirshler said sports organisations have been pushing for stronger action from betting operators for several years.
“This is a clear message to anyone who believes threatening, harassing or abusing athletes online is simply part of being a fan: it is not.” The programme comes as betting-related online abuse has become an increasingly visible issue across professional and college sports. Recent research from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) highlighted the scale of the problem.
Survey shows increased athlete abuse
According to its 2025 Student-Athlete Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP), 36 per cent of Division I men’s basketball players reported experiencing sports-betting-related abuse on social media. Among that group, 46 per cent said they had received negative or threatening messages from bettors, the highest rate recorded across the survey.
Those findings have added to growing calls for betting operators to play a more active role in protecting athletes, rather than leaving enforcement solely to leagues and social media platforms.
Unlike previous integrity programmes that primarily focus on match-fixing or suspicious betting activity, the Bad Actor Programme directly connects abusive online behaviour with sportsbook account restrictions.
By linking verified social media harassment to customer betting accounts, participating operators hope to deter abusive behaviour while creating greater accountability across the regulated sports betting industry. The company believes more sportsbooks will join the initiative in the coming months, creating a major industry effort to discourage online harassment and improve protections for athletes, coaches and officials.
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