FanDuel Responds to Giolito Comments About Gambler Harassment
Just days after Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito mentioned threats directed at him and his girlfriend from upset gamblers, he struggled on Wednesday in a 9-8 defeat against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Girlfriend Harassed
Giolito, having a solid season (6-2, 3.97 ERA) for the third-ranked Red Sox, permitted five runs on six hits over four innings pitched, and has experienced back-to-back starts with a minimum of four runs given up.
His remarks on the “Baseball isn’t Boring” podcast this week became even more relevant, as he recounted a conversation with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, voicing his worries about the online harassment directed at him and his girlfriends from upset bettors, which he views as a significant risk to baseball players.
Gioloto Expresses Concern to Manfred
"It’s getting worse, by the year, by the week, by the day,” he told the podcast. “So, I know that there’s very easy things you can do. You know you can go private on social media. You can block accounts. It only goes so far. One thing I said to Rob … is it going to take a player getting assaulted in front of their apartment building, by some disgruntled guy that lost a bet, for real action to be taken? Because, we have cybersecurity. We have all these things. The social media apps themselves, it’s usually Instagram and Twitter where this goes on, they don’t do anything.
“So, I have my girlfriend, where she gets a lot of nasty shit when I pitch poorly too. You’ll report it to Instagram, and it’s always coming back no action was taken. A lot of it’s coming off of burner accounts. But you know, cybersecurity is able to get through that figure out where the IP address is. [Rob] seemed a little taken aback, that maybe this was something we should look into.”
FanDuel Reacts
Giolito stated that this is turning into an even greater issue, due to the increasing popularity of sports wagering.
FanDuel serves as the official sports wagering partner of Major League Baseball, and a representative stated this to Casino.org today: "FanDuel strongly denounces any abusive conduct aimed at athletes." Intimidating or stalking athletes is intolerable and has no role in sports.
The representative stated that in June, FanDuel kicked a user off their platform for harassing Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas. Thomas shared on X that “this adult male” trailed her on the track while she captured images and signed autographs, primarily for kids, throwing personal insults at her regarding a parlay bet.
Recent Guidelines
The gambler, known as “mr100kaday,” shared a video of him scolding Thomas prior to a race, and later claimed he won his FanDuel parlay by causing her defeat.
FanDuel has recently modified their terms and conditions to include precise wording stating that if they identify a bettor harassing an athlete, they will expel that individual from the platform.
“We may, in our sole discretion, suspend or terminate your Account and/or exclude you from the Services if we determine that you pose a threat to the safety of participants in a sporting event or discover that you engaged in the harassment of a sports official, coach, or any participant in a sporting event.”
Cyberbullying
An increase in online harassment is turning into a larger problem for sportsbook operators to oversee.
“Many athletes are on social media, interacting with fans, and that has led to some really fun and entertaining experiences and bringing fans closer to the game, but it also gives fans an opportunity to say, frankly, unacceptable things to athletes that are negative or harassing,” Cory Fox, SVP of Public Policy and Sustainability at FanDuel, told In Game.
Manfred Remarks at MLB All-Star Game
Manfred was questioned about player safety concerning sports betting during the MLB All-Star break last week, stating he has received feedback from players regarding threats they have been facing.
"If a player receives a threat from any source, on any topic, it is a matter of concern to us that we take really seriously. I’ve had players in the last month mention this issue to me as one of concern and we’re discussing what we should do to be more proactive in this area,” Manfred told ESPN.