FanDuel sportsbook has confirmed it has banned a bettor who won $2,500 in parlays after heckling Olympic Gold Medalist Gabby Thomas last weekend.
The bettor, known as "Mr. 100k A Day" online, “followed [her] around the track” and was “shouting personal insults,” Thomas posted Monday on her social media account.
Thomas lost the 200-meter race even though she was a -900 favorite to win.
The back and forth
The ban comes after the bettor posted a video to his social media account calling Thomas a “choke artist” and saying he wanted her to lose a Grand Slam Track Philadelphia race since she is engaged to a white man. The bettor said he wanted Melissa Jefferson-Wooden to win since she is married to a black man.
The heckler won $2,500 in winnings from $1,200 wagers in two- and four-leg parlays.
ESPN betting analyst David Purdum posted on X a statement from a FanDuel spokesperson:
“FanDuel condemns in the strongest terms abusive behavior directed towards athletes. Threatening or harassing athletes is unacceptable and has no place in sports. This customer is no longer able to wager with FanDuel.”
Thomas, who graduated from Harvard University, won three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Her 200-meter personal best of 21.60 seconds was ahead of Jefferson-Wooden’s 22.15.
The latter smashed her lifetime record with a 21.99 showing to win the third event of the inaugural season of Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia last weekend.
Thomas crossed the line at 22.10, 0.27 seconds off the time that won her the gold in Paris. Thomas posted on her X account (formally Twitter) Tuesday that she “got these boys on twitter big mad yesterday,” prompting the response from Mr. 100k A Day.
Referring to himself as “The Track and Field Bully” in his online bio, the bettor called Thomas a “compulsive liar” and said another woman, who had defended Thomas, was “ignorant.”
Setting a new standard?
Legal sportsbooks have put greater emphasis on promoting responsible gaming in recent years. Although RG is often related to problem gambling, it also relates to real-world incidents between fans and athletes.
That makes FanDuel's ban a step in the right direction for all sports bettors and sportsbooks alike.
Grand Slam Track, which was created by four-time Olympic Gold Medal sprinter Michael Johnson, told Front Office Sports that it will learn from the incident.
“We will implement additional safeguards to help prevent incidents like this in the future. Let us be clear, despicable behavior like this will not be tolerated.”
Toxic behavior directed toward athletes has been on the rise across multiple levels. NCAA president Charlie Baker spent the last year campaigning against college player prop bets mainly because of the potential to increase harassment toward student-athletes.
"We believe that when bettors can't gamble on college athletes' individual performances, they're far less likely to attempt to scrutinize, coerce, or harass student-athletes."
Heckling has always been a part of sports. Some fans feel obligated to try and get into players' heads. But it can go too far and become too personal.
If sportsbooks continue to crack down on incidents such as these, it could help ensure that these interactions remain civil and don’t cross any lines.