Mickey Moniak deleted the apps. The death threats still find him — about ten a week, routed through his wife’s phone because she’s the one still checking social media.
“I probably get 10 a week,” the Rockies outfielder told The Denver Gazette. “But I also don’t have social media. It’s my wife reading them, which is also a problem.”
Moniak is a former No. 1 overall MLB draft pick who landed with Colorado after the Angels sent him down to Triple-A in 2023. That demotion, he said, was when the abuse became unbearable. Colorado voters legalized sports betting in May 2020 through Proposition DD, directing tax revenue toward the state’s water plan and gambling addiction counseling. Since then, residents have wagered more than $30 billion, according to the state’s division of gaming. Colorado is one of 39 states with legal sports wagering, and prediction-market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket — which let users bet on everything from game outcomes to elections to natural disasters — operate in 29 states, including Colorado, without contributing to state taxes.
The Denver Gazette spoke with Moniak, Broncos kicker Wil Lutz, Avalanche forward Logan O’Connor, and others about what that flood of money has done to the people on the field.
“You’ve got a phone, someone threw a bet on you and it didn’t hit,” Moniak said. “They want to start telling you to kill yourself.”
Lutz, entering his fourth season with the Broncos, called the combination of social media and gambling “an extreme distraction for athletes.” The NFLPA holds an annual hourlong meeting on wagering rules during minicamp. Lutz said the union “does a great job” but that players self-police too, because the league’s penalties leave no margin.
“There is no slap on the wrist,” Lutz said. “It’s pretty brutal punishment. You cannot gamble on football. There’s no problem with us gambling on other sports. But at the same time, is that the environment that you want to create for yourself?”
O’Connor, a ninth-year NHL forward and Stanley Cup champion, said gambling advertising is now unavoidable. “It’s become a massive part of all sports leagues and all advertising. At this point, it’s here to stay, and it’s in your face at all times.” The NHL prohibits players and staff from betting on hockey. Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto received a 41-game suspension in 2023 for activities related to sports wagering, though the league found no evidence he bet on NHL games.
O’Connor said the league’s education boils down to drawing hard lines with friends. “If your buddies are texting you about throwing a bet on something, you’ve just got to ignore it,” he said. “Then next time say: ‘Please don’t text me about this.’ You sort of have to make those guidelines pretty clear, because there’s no gray area to that.”
The problem reaches well below the pro level. A 2025 NCAA study found that 36% of Division I men’s basketball players reported experiencing gambling-related social media abuse within the last year, and 6% said they had been contacted by outsiders seeking inside information. Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was permanently stripped of his remaining eligibility after investigators found he wagered at least $90,000 on college and pro sports, including bets on his own team. Sorsby publicly disclosed a gambling addiction and entered treatment.
“We really need to treat this as a public health crisis for young people,” said Jared Bahir Browsh, director of critical sports studies at the University of Colorado. A 2026 Harris Poll commissioned by the National Council on Problem Gambling found that 33% of respondents aged 21 to 44 had placed a sports bet before turning 21.
Several recent gambling scandals have Colorado ties. Denver native and former Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups is accused of participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games tied to organized crime, allegedly cheating gamblers out of at least $7 million; he has pleaded not guilty. Ex-Nuggets guard Malik Beasley is charged with accepting bribes to influence prop bets while playing for the Bucks and has pleaded not guilty. Jontay Porter, brother of former Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr., received a lifetime NBA ban after allegedly fixing prop bets with the Raptors and pleaded guilty to wire fraud; his sentencing hearing is scheduled for December. Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended for one season for betting on NFL games as a rookie in 2022; he took responsibility and was reinstated in 2024.
On Friday, the NFL suspended Arizona Cardinals personnel executive Ryan Gold after an investigation determined he provided confidential inside information about the team’s 2026 draft picks and wagered parlay bets on NFL and college football. Gold disputes the suspension and will appeal.
“Information is king,” Browsh said. “We kind of assume athletes are in this isolated bubble. But they still have friends and people they work around. We also don’t know if there might be gambling debts involved.”