Colorado Proposes Sports Betting Ban for Threats Against Athletes

The Colorado Division of Gaming has proposed a change to Limited Gaming Rule 29 that would allow the Limited Gaming Control Commission to place anyone who threatens athletes, coaches, team staff, or their families on an involuntary exclusion list. 

“The goal here is to have a tangible and meaningful impact on this issue,” division Supervisory Investigator Chris Krieger said during a virtual stakeholder workshop Thursday. “We’ve worked with some of the leagues in the past and have been told a lot about these issues, and we want to make sure we are having a meaningful impact.”

Along with this, there would be a provision around insider betting, which is a class 4 felony in the state, and also game manipulation. 

This follows Ohio's ban of a bettor over MLB World Series threats in 2025. 

Colorado Proposal Targets Threats and Insider Betting

From here, the commission can hold a public hearing no sooner than 30 days after the division files a formal notice. Then, after a commission vote, changes wouldn't go into effect until up to 60 days later. 

So, overall, this proposal would protect those parties involved with sports, exclude those in violation of the insider betting law, and also, anyone convicted of a crime against any of the protected parties would be placed on the involuntary list. 

However, the division cannot make it so that sportsbooks are required to ban them. 

“While we are currently unable to mandate that sports operators involuntarily exclude patrons, we strongly recommend they do so,” Krieger said.

Colorado Gaming Regulators Seek More Athlete Harassment Reports

Right now, the reporting tool is a Google Form that includes information such as your name, email, the sport involved, the league the person is part of, and more. 

“Our goal is to increase reporting from athletes about harassment they may be receiving,” Krieger said. “Speaking to the leagues and others, one of the biggest issues they have, and one of the battles they fight, is getting people to report these issues to them.”

Krieger also added that the division could work with local authorities. 

“We want to make it clear that we take this seriously,” Krieger said. “Either way, we want to make sure we’re there to support people and find ways to address this.”