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Fanatics has partnered with IC360 and Signify Group to launch a new program in New Jersey and across the US aimed at identifying sports bettors who threaten or harass athletes, coaches, and officials online.
The companies said the Bad Actor Program is the first sports betting industry network designed to monitor public-facing social media targeting athletes and coaches, identify offending bettors, and alert participating sportsbooks.
Fanatics Sportsbook, the program’s first legal operator participant, said customers found to have engaged in abusive, threatening, defamatory, or harassing conduct could face account suspensions or permanent bans.
How the program works
The Bad Actor Program combines Signify Group’s Threat Matrix monitoring service with IC360’s new ProhiBet Bad Actor platform.
Threat Matrix will monitor public-facing social media across X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube for abuse targeting athletes, coaches, teams and officials. Athletes and officials will also be able to submit abusive direct messages for investigation.
If abusive behavior is confirmed, the individuals behind those accounts can be placed into IC360’s ProhiBet Bad Actor platform, allowing participating sportsbooks to restrict wagering or suspend accounts belonging to those individuals.
According to the companies, cases that appear to cross criminal thresholds may also be referred to law enforcement.
The program will also share intelligence with sports leagues and teams to help them respond when athletes are targeted online.
Fanatics calls on other operators to join
The initiative builds on Fanatics’ zero-tolerance policy against threatening sports figures, said Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King in a statement.
“This groundbreaking program will hold bettors accountable for threats made against players, coaches, and officials. We encourage other operators to join the initiative because there is no sports betting potential loss that should embolden a sports betting customer to threaten or harass an athlete online.”
Scott Sadin, co-CEO of IC360, said threats and harassment directed at athletes are increasing at an alarming rate and that identifying those responsible is crucial to protecting athletes and the integrity of sports betting.
The new platform expands on IC360’s existing ProhiBet system, which is already used by sportsbooks to prevent athletes, coaches, and other prohibited individuals from wagering. ProhiBet Bad Actor, however, focuses on bettors accused of abusive online behavior.
Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify Group, said sports organizations have increasingly called on betting operators to take a more active role in addressing online abuse directed at athletes.
“Over the last few years, many of our global sports clients have been calling for betting and gaming operators to tackle this growing problem head on.”
Fanatics is the first sportsbook to join the network, though IC360 and Signify said the program is designed for additional legal operators to participate. The network is intended to help prevent individuals who threaten athletes online from creating new accounts or continuing to wager across multiple operators, including New Jersey sportsbooks, by sharing evidence-based reports and the identities of offending customers among operators.
