Fanatics Sportsbook is taking a strong stand against the growing threats and harassment faced by athletes, coaches, and officials from frustrated bettors.

Fanatics Sportsbook announced on Thursday that it has become the first U.S. bookmaker to collaborate with ProhiBet Bad Actors, a system leveraging artificial intelligence and investigative tools to identify and address social media abuse.

The platform is set to launch this football season, with the commitment that bettors who engage in harassment towards athletes, coaches, and officials will face suspensions or bans from the sportsbook. This initiative comes in response to alarming levels of abuse and harassment that have emerged across college and professional sports.

A recent NCAA survey revealed that 46% of men’s basketball players reported receiving negative or threatening messages from individuals who had wagered on their games. “It’s an incredibly concerning issue,” said Matt King, CEO of Fanatics Betting and Gaming and an industry veteran. “We reached a point where we felt it was our responsibility, even as a single operator, to take action and hopefully set a precedent for the entire industry.”

ProhiBet is currently in talks with other sportsbooks about integrating the bad actors system into their operations, according to an industry insider. As part of its partnership with ProhiBet, the Signify Group, an A.I.-driven data science firm, will utilize its Threat Matrix technology to monitor public social media posts for abusive content. When necessary, they will investigate the accounts and individuals involved.

Additionally, Signify Group encourages athletes, coaches, and officials to report any abusive private messages for further investigation. Identified bad actors will be added to the ProhiBet Bad Actors database. Fanatics and other future participants will receive anonymized information regarding violators from Integrity Compliance 360, the company behind ProhiBet.

This system allows for the identification of matching customers and the suspension or termination of their betting accounts while keeping personal information confidential among operators.

The shared information may also be provided to sports leagues and, when appropriate, law enforcement. “Violence and harassment in sports, both in arenas and online, are escalating at an unprecedented rate, threatening the integrity of the sports betting industry,” stated Scott Sadin, Co-CEO of IC360, in a release regarding the partnership.

“Addressing the behavior of those identified through ProhiBet BA and Threat Matrix is vital to safeguarding athletes and other stakeholders from significant long-term harm.” In addition to these measures, Fanatics plans to utilize ProhiBet’s platform to detect and address impermissible bettors, including athletes, trainers, or officials who attempt to place wagers on their own sports, teams, or schools.