There has been a lot of discussion about tennis betting and how it affects players of the sport when they get hateful messages after losing a match. What can be done to battle this behaviour?
Betting on tennis can be a fun pastime if it is done correctly, but when it turns into hatred for the losing player (which in turn led to the punter losing money), it becomes a problem. It is hard to know exactly what to do about this, other than to urge people to bet responsibly and not communicate with players.
The issue with tennis betting and corruption is something TIU (tennis integrity unit) is working on more and more, and if you register an international player number you will need to go through an online course with TIU to be able to sign up for tournaments. I think this is a good start, but it only looks at the problem from the “corrupt player perspective”.
Banning tennis betting is just pushing it back into a black market product, and that is not the way forward. Not sure if you can impact this behavior through regulation either, but it is simply sad to see so much hatred from people betting on tennis being thrown onto the players they are betting on. Maybe you would only allow really low priced bets on live tennis? It does not seem viable from the business perspective of the online gambling company, but at least stops the people who bets big to win big.
Responsible betting – follow the golden rule
Here is an article on CNN describing the issue of trolling tennis players on social media that illustrates the problem in a good way. I do not really have any solid ideas on how to battle this issue, but some measure should be taken, from the ATP/WTA and the online gambling industry to show that they are taking it seriously.
Most people who bet on sports do it for the extra enjoyment it can add to the match, not to risk or win a lot of money. It is quite obvious for most people but you should never bet more than you can afford to lose. That is the golden rule that does not seem to register with the people who spew hatred towards players on social media.
If you like tennis betting and can do it responsibly, why not check out these free Australian betting tips.
What do you think about tennis betting and the issues that face the ATP and WTA players on social media?
