Red Sox’s Lucas Giolito confronts MLB commissioner about sports betting
Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito has expressed his concerns to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred regarding the uptick of social media abuse that players and their families are receiving regarding sports betting.
Speaking on the Baseball isn’t Boring podcast, Giolito mentioned that Manfred had met with the Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies to discuss some concerns they had. The Red Sox pitcher brought up the abuse he and his wife had received on social media.
“I asked him about something that has been on my mind this year that’s been a little worrisome for me with the rise of sports betting – the access that exists now with social media and everything,” Giolito said.
While Giolito appreciated Manfred meeting face-to-face with players and acknowledged that gambling had been around for a while now, he is worried that even staying off social media does not fully protect players.
“It only goes so far – 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?” he added.
In June, police in Texas identified a man overseas who had been allegedly sending death threats to Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. after supposedly losing money on a bet.
Sporting organizations like the NCAA have increased measures to protect athletes from betting-related abuse. In June, the group released figures showing that sports betting abuse was down 23% during its March Madness tournament.
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