Betting’s influence on fan behaviour and player wellbeing is becoming harder for MLB to ignore
Players across Major League Baseball (MLB) have raised concerns about a rise in abusive messages linked to prop bets.
Harassment has increased across all sports in the digital age because of the ease with which people can contact athletes, officials and staff. Baseball players say the motivation behind many of the messages has changed, with a growing number tied to betting outcomes. This comes as Fanatics Betting looks to eradicate social media abuse of US athletes.
Prop bets allow bettors to wager on specific moments or statistical targets, such as a pitcher’s strikeouts or a batter’s hits. When those outcomes miss, players say the frustration from losing wagers is being directed at them through social platforms.
A source within the MLB Players Association said the union has raised the issue during discussions with the league and is pushing for player‑specific prop bets to be removed, according to reports by ESPN.
MLB has measures in place to prevent and punish harassment on social media. The league works with monitoring firms to identify abusive messages on platforms such as X, Instagram and TikTok, hiding threatening or discriminatory comments before players see them.
If threats are verified, they can be escalated to law enforcement and sportsbook partners have the ability to suspend or close accounts belonging to bettors who target athletes.
However, the union believes that taking individual outcomes out of betting products would be the best way to properly reduce the volume of harassment directed at players.
Two birds with one stone
Prop bets have been a point of contention for a while, especially in baseball and other US sports. Recent cases across the country’s favourite sports have shown how individual performance markets can be vulnerable to manipulation.
In November 2025, two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged in the US with allegedly working with a group of bettors to influence the outcomes of specific pitch‑related wagers.
Federal prosecutors said the scheme involved prearranged pitches that allowed those with inside knowledge to profit from prop bets placed on online sportsbooks.
The case was described by investigators as an extraordinary breach of integrity, with authorities alleging that the players communicated with an inner circle of bettors to confirm which pitches would be altered.
The incident was one of several betting‑related scandals across major US sports last year. The NBA, the UFC and other leagues experienced similar issues, with most cases linked to individual performance markets.
Regulators and integrity firms have warned that these smaller, more granular bets can be easier to exploit because they rely on isolated actions that are harder to monitor in real time.
This betting angle was also mentioned in the union’s proposal to eradicate this type of betting, suggesting players punished for betting offences should be allowed to complete a short rehabilitation assignment in the minor leagues just before their suspension concludes.
Commercial pressure on MLB
The commercial side, an ever-important facet of modern sports, adds another layer to the debate.
In March, MLB agreed to a partnership with prediction‑market operator Polymarket and introduced a joint integrity framework to govern which markets can run. Individual pitches, managerial decisions and umpire performance were identified as too high‑risk.
However, player prop bets make up a significant share of betting volume for traditional sportsbooks. Despite MLB not profiting directly from these wagers, a full ban would still have financial consequences.
Sportsbooks pay for official data licences partly because props require granular, real‑time information. If those markets disappear, the commercial value of those data rights falls too.
