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Read Full BioBritish tennis star Katie Boulter revealed last week that she received several death threats during last month’s French Open, highlighting a growing problem of online abuse in professional tennis.
A significant portion of the online harassment, including some directed at Boulter’s family members, appears to originate from angry and disgruntled bettors, whether she won or lost her matches.
Boulter’s revelation also coincided with the release of a joint report by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The report itself demanded more action from the gambling sector to help curb the ongoing rise of cyber abuse.
In an interview with the BBC, Boulter revealed she was subject to a torrent of abusive online behavior after she lost a first-set tiebreaker against Carole Monnet before going on to win the match.
One message read, “Hope you get cancer,” while another attack on social media threatened to desecrate Boulter’s grandmother’s grave if she wasn’t “dead by tomorrow.”
The social media attacks on Boulter appeared to be connected with bets lost on the game, with one directly stating, “Go to hell, I lost money my mother sent me.”
Commenting on the trolling comments, Boulter added, “It becomes more apparent every single time you go on your phone… I don’t think there’s anything off the cards now.”
Widespread Cyberbullying and a Need to Protect Younger Players
Boulter’s hope in publicizing the levels of online trolling is to highlight the scale of the problem in professional tennis circles.
“As a tennis player, I just want to see and protect some of the younger players that come through and try to find a way around this whole situation,” she argued.
However, her case is part of a wider problem affecting the sport.
According to a 2024 Threat Matrix report, 458 players had received direct online threats or abuse, with angry gamblers accounting for 40% of the incidents.
The study, conducted using AI and expert analysts, screened over 1.6 million posts, flagging more than 12,000 as abusive or threatening.
Notably, the online harassment stemmed from just 4,200 social media accounts, with “15 accounts escalated to law enforcement,” according to the WTA and ITF.
In addition to the social media attacks, the service also supports players who receive more targeted threats via DMs, emails, or letters.
The results show that in 2024, 28 players reported 56 direct abusive incidents, with 77% tied to gambling.
Who Is Accountable — Social Media or the Gambling Industry?
WTA World No. 3 Jessica Pegula has also voiced condemnation of the situation, saying, “Online abuse is unacceptable, and something that no player should have to endure.”
She also made a call for more decisive action from both the social media platforms and the gambling companies themselves, who enjoy a proactive relationship with the game, such as Stake’s sponsorship of the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
The issue of online hate and abuse on social media is not limited to professional tennis.
It constitutes a much broader argument about social media companies’ duty of care, which includes X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Nevertheless, the WTA and ITF are urging the gambling sector also to do more to identify and sanction abusive users, and in particular, repeat offenders.
In doing so, the details of 39 high-volume social media accounts have already been shared with both the betting companies and tennis authorities in a bid to help tackle the worst of the online threats.
Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify Group—the company that operates the Threat Matrix—stressed the importance of acting on this form of cyberbullying. “A relatively small number of accounts are responsible for a significant proportion of abuse,” he said, “and that gives us the chance to drive effective enforcement.”
Theoretically Ideal, Practically Impossible
In theory, closer cooperation between gambling companies and social media firms could provide socially optimal results.
However, there are several factors that make it impractical to do so. Often, prolific “keyboard warriors” operate on social media behind a veil of anonymity.
To have a social media account, there is no mandatory “know-your-customer” protocol, hence the profligacy of politically driven bots and trolls.
Gambling companies rarely collect social media data from their users, and such data sharing would undoubtedly raise significant ethical concerns.
In addition, the motive of an online troll could be financial loss from wagering with friends or on offshore platforms, both of which the regulated industry is unable to address.
While it is clear that monetary loss is a motivating factor for those who frequently abuse sports stars online, information is scarce. Realistically, there’s little the gambling industry can do to prevent prodigal trolls – and ultimately, are they really to blame?
