MLB Players Really Don't Like Sports Betting

It's no secret that sports betting has fundamentally changed the relationship between professional athletes and the fans that watch them play. 

Understandably, when money is on the line, people become a lot more invested in the outcome than they would otherwise. But it's not just wins and losses these days, it's prop bets on things like home runs, hits, individual pitches and so on. And players, particularly in Major League Baseball, are hearing about it. A lot. And sometimes in a completely inappropriate manner.

The Athletic conducted a survey earlier this year of well over 100 current players to get their opinions on the state of the game. They asked which organization has the best reputation in baseball, how they feel about the coming reality of robo umps, and how they feel about the rise in sports betting. 

READ: MLB Players Have Picked A Favorite Organization, And Fans Won't Like It

Turns out, most of them don't exactly like what it's done to baseball.

Mar 27, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; A Chicago White Sox fan yells during Opening Day at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

MLB Players Discuss The Impact Of Sports Betting On Fan Relationships

Several players talked about how they can no longer avoid hearing about over/unders for props, specifically starting pitchers who warm up in the bullpen surrounded by fans.

"As a starting pitcher, you go to warm up, and all it is is people hanging over the fence: ‘I’ve got you on the over!’" one NL All-Star told The Athletic. "You try to tune them out – that’s not my focus – but you hear that stuff and you’re very aware of what your over-under is for the day in strikeouts."

Some lighthearted teasing, or begging for more strikeouts, isn't the worst thing in the world. What is though? Fans threatening players' safety or their families after losing a bet?

"I’ve received (something) as simple as a Venmo request with a threat on it that says, ‘You owe me $9,000 because you blew the game – I need you to send me that money or I’m going to find your family,’" another player said. "That’s too far. We’ve communicated as players to MLB security that we need to get a handle on this before it gets out of control. I don’t want to say this, but something bad is going to happen and it’s going to be like, ‘We told you so.’"

An outfielder with years of experience in professional baseball said it's only getting worse.

"It’s the worst thing that’s happened to the game since I’ve been up here," he said. "I think it’s only going to get worse because of how popular it is. There are ways to bet pitch-by-pitch in the stadium during the game. I’ll be in Wrigley in center field and I have people telling me they’re going to put money on me to hit a home run the next at-bat. I don’t need to know that.

"And then the hate stuff if you have a bad day (and) go 0-or-4 — it’s gotten out of hand. It’s a problem. And unfortunately, they’re not going to change it because there’s too much money in it."

Venmo requests seem to be a recurring theme, with another player detailing that they frequently get them from disgruntled gamblers. Along with much worse.

"I get requests all the time on Venmo: ‘Thank you for making me lose $2,000 last night …’ I get threats: ‘I’m going to shoot you from my apartment. I live right across (from) the stadium.’ … I got three or four texts like that and I had to report it to MLB security. I don’t know if it’s for real, but I don’t want to find out," he said.

Sports betting is here to stay; it makes watching games more exciting, gets fans involved, with stakes, and increases viewership and attendance. It's also fun, when done responsibly. But threatening violence against players for not fulfilling a bet is quite simply unacceptable. It's hard to blame them for being upset about it.