U.S. tennis star athlete Jessica Pegula recently called sports bettors “insane and delusional” because of the online abuse she receives on her social media.
Key takeaways
- A highly ranked tennis star revealed abusive comments she received on her Instagram posts.
- Pegula said the NHL sent her threats individuals made.
- Athletes are trying to raise awareness about the rise in harassment from sports bettors.
The No. 3-ranked world women’s player became the latest athlete to speak out about harassment after she lost to Lois Boisson 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the French Open's fourth round Monday. Pegula revealed several comments in a post about the abuse on her Instagram page two days after she was eliminated from the tennis major.
From Jessica Pegula’s Instastory.
— LaWanda (@lawanda50) June 4, 2025
The players have been dealing with this for years. Terrible, disgusting people. 😡 pic.twitter.com/45dkAUF0V3
One response included a card that read “You die.” A different commenter called her “the most useless top 10 player ever,” while another wrote she was a "trash can". One reply even read, “You sold this match on purpose. Can’t wait until Karma spends the block back on you. Hopefully, your first child will be a stillborn.”
Bad behavior
Pegula wrote she’s seen stories of harassment in other sports but said she can guarantee tennis is “100 times worse. These comments are non-stop for us. Win or lose – it’s whatever they bet on.”
“I don’t allow DMs and try to remember when to shut my comments off during tournament weeks, but they always find a way to my timeline,” Pegula wrote. “This stuff has never really bothered me much, but does any other sport deal with this to our level? I’d love to know because it seems to be tennis?? It’s so disturbing.”
The tennis star claims every pro on tour deals with abuse from sports bettors, and that it's gotten “so bad.” Pegula, whose parents are Buffalo Bills (NFL) and Sabres (NHL) owners' Terry and Kim Pegula, wrote she gets told regularly on social media that her family should get cancer and die.
The NHL sent concerning comments to Pegula, who told them she gets those all the time.
“That is so messed up that that is my response,” Pegula wrote. “Normalizing death threats!”
Raising awareness
Athletes in other sports also hope to gain attention on what they see as a rising problem. Olympic champion and track star Gabby Thomas was filmed being heckled by a bettor looking to cash a parlay at last weekend’s Grand Slam Track event in Philadelphia.
The individual bragged about getting in Thomas’ head and causing her to lose, which helped him hit on a $2,500 bet. FanDuel later banned the bettor from using its platform, saying in a statement the operator “condemns in the strongest terms abusive behavior towards athletes. Threatening or harassing is unacceptable and has no place in sports.”
Houston Astros' pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. hired security after he reported death threats an overseas bettor made to his family after the person lost a wager in a game McCullers played.
“Enough is enough,” said Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks, who’s also received death threats. “At some point, someone has to make a stand.”
