Colorado’s Division of Gaming has recommended expanding its involuntary-exclusion rules so people who threaten physical harm to athletes, coaches, officials, team personnel, sportsbook employees or Division staff could be barred from regulated wagering in the state.
The proposed change to Regulation 30-2907 would also cover threats against immediate family members of athletes and other specified people connected to sports, licensed establishments and the Division. It remains a proposal: the Division held a rulemaking workshop, public comments remained open, and it planned to send the measure to the Limited Gaming Control Commission for approval.
Colorado’s existing exclusion framework can bar a person from wagering with all state-regulated licensees. People on the Involuntary Exclusion List found gambling, wagering or sports betting at a licensed establishment can be ejected, cannot recover money already wagered or jackpots, and receive back only funds not yet wagered.
The amendment would treat convictions for crimes in which a protected person was the victim as grounds for exclusion. It would also add people who manipulate or compromise the integrity of gaming or sports-betting activities, and those who wager in contravention of Colorado Revised Statutes section 44-30-1502.
The proposed text further strengthens the rule’s existing public-confidence standard, which concerns reputations that could undermine confidence that gaming is free of criminal or corruptive influences. Rule 29 is titled Responsible Gaming and Self-Restriction, while Regulation 30-2907 governs the exclusion or ejection of people from gaming establishments.
The Division has also made an online harassment-reporting tool available through the sports-betting section of its website. Division investigator Chris Krieger said the agency’s goal was to increase reporting by athletes who have received harassment.
The proposal follows September’s joint call by the NFL, MLB, MLS, NBA and NHL, alongside players’ associations, for states to adopt tougher standards for bettor harassment and threats, as this publication reported. The leagues said that losing bettors too often target players, coaches and families through social media and in person.
Louisiana, Ohio and West Virginia already had measures aimed at harassment and threats. Separately, the NCAA joined the Bad Actor Program in October, an initiative launched by Signify Group, IC360 and Fanatics Sportsbook to identify online abuse and support potential betting or venue bans, as well as law-enforcement referrals where appropriate.
