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- Patrick McEnroe warned that the expansion of point-by-point sports betting is fueling intense online abuse directed at individual tennis players.
- He emphasized the need for stronger gambling regulations to protect athlete welfare and address match-fixing risks in lower-tier events.
Patrick McEnroe said tennis players are facing increasing online abuse as sports betting expands, adding that the sport needs stronger controls as wagering grows more granular.
Speaking on a Fox Business segment published Sept. 12, McEnroe said tennis has long been one of the most bet-on sports, but betting has spread further into point-by-point wagering, increasing pressure around the sport. He said that matters because tennis players compete individually and can become direct targets for angry bettors online.
> “They get tons of abuse online. That needs to be controlled,” McEnroe said.
The comments came during a broader discussion of the U.S. Open, where McEnroe and sports personality Rich Salgado also talked about tournament popularity, American contenders and the wider sports gambling market.
Betting growth brings more attention and more risk
McEnroe said the sport’s profile is rising alongside betting activity.
> “Tennis is bigger than ever. The US Open is bigger than ever,” he said.
But he also warned that the gambling ecosystem creates integrity and player-welfare issues. According to McEnroe, tennis has seen cases at lower professional levels where players took bribes to throw a set, though he added, “Thankfully, it’s never happened at the highest levels of pro tennis.”
That distinction matters for betting audiences because it points to a familiar integrity problem in lower-tier events rather than alleging widespread fixing at top tournaments.
McEnroe said betting and other forms of gambling “need to be regulated and controlled.” The segment did not detail what specific controls he was referring to.
Tennis concerns surfaced alongside broader U.S. betting talk
The Fox Business discussion linked tennis betting concerns to the broader expansion of U.S. sports wagering and prediction markets. The segment cited an American Gaming Association estimate that $29.5 billion would be wagered on the NFL season, while also mentioning analyst views that prediction markets could eventually reach a similar scale.
Salgado, discussing the commercialization of sports, said, “The NFL is about money.” He added that gambling-related marketing is now visible across sports.
The segment was not focused on a new policy or enforcement action, but it highlighted an issue that has become more visible as legal sports betting grows: increased abuse directed at athletes and continuing integrity concerns in events lower down the professional ladder.
McEnroe’s central point was that betting may be helping drive attention to tennis, but it is also creating costs for players that the sport and regulators cannot ignore.
Source: As reported by Fox Business.
