The harmful effects of sports betting are spreading in the United States, and threats and harassment of athletes are rapidly increasing.

[Los Angeles Current Affairs] As sports betting becomes established in the United States, players, managers, and their families are increasingly threatened and harassed by users who lose their bets. Major professional sports organizations, including Major League Baseball, are lobbying for the ``permanent expulsion'' of malicious gamblers.

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Major League Baseball's Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Kanno and fellow outfielder Mickey Moniak told local media outlet The Denver Gazette, ``The number of death threats has increased significantly. We're getting about 10 a week.'' ``If the bet is off, he sometimes tells me to kill myself.'' He reportedly deleted SNS from his smartphone.

The reason behind the targeting of athletes is the spread of ``prop bets,'' a type of gambling that targets personal performance. Instead of betting on the outcome of the game, bets are placed on things like whether a player will hit a home run or how many strikeouts he or she will have. Anger from losing is now more likely to be directed toward a specific player.

The U.S. sports world had previously opposed the legalization of gambling, but the tide changed in 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for states to lift the ban. Anticipating new revenue and fan interest, major leagues are expanding their partnerships with betting providers. According to a study by the Washington Post, related advertisements appear on average once every four minutes during the broadcast.

Sports betting is currently legal in 39 states and Washington, DC. The negative effects of this came to the fore, and in September, five major professional sports organizations, including Major League Baseball (MLB), and the players' unions jointly requested local regulatory authorities to permanently ban gambling on customers who had acted in a threatening manner. It also calls for information sharing across states.

The market has not only brought benefits. The sports world that has embraced gambling is now facing the cost.