A joint letter from the five major professional sports leagues in the United States to state officials is asking for new regulations to be put in place for bettors, and punishment if anyone is found to be harassing athletes, coaches, officials, or their respective family.

The NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS released the letter on Tuesday that blames the proliferation of sports betting for a rise in online and in-person harassment from upset gamblers who lose money due to the individuals in question. While it goes without saying that it’s never okay to harass an athlete over betting, the joint letter is comically naive, and fundamentally ignores the fact that all five leagues have gleefully embraced the money entering their respective sports from gambling, while repeatedly ignoring anyone who raised concern over the risk being opened up as a result.

All five of these leagues have partnerships with a gambling company, which is branded as the “official betting partner of [league]” in all five cases. They want to keep those partnerships going, but are asking for the following steps to be taken:

The leagues want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to promote betting at every turn for their partners, have broadcasts which encourage fans to wager on the games as some sort of “enhancing experience,” but don’t want any headaches on the back-end when some gamblers, who may have become addicted to gambling because of their endorsement, are upset.

When we get down to brass tacks it’s simple: Everyone was aware of the inherent risks of opening up sports betting nationwide. Other countries have served as the litmus test for the risks of sports betting. There are always going to be the casual, occasional bettors who are able to bet responsibly, but there are also going to be thousands upon thousands of people who fall hopelessly into the pit of gambling addiction, risking their livelihoods to keep funding their addiction, and these people are not going to be prone to rational thought when a single athlete’s performance or one bad call costs them everything.

Aside from being a strongly worded letter, there’s nothing of consequence in this statement — and perhaps that’s by design. These leagues could threaten to pull support and branding from gambling companies, they could ensure their stats weren’t being scraped in real-time for live betting, they could refuse to take money from gambling companies — but we know that’s not going to happen. It’s all hollow.

This isn’t a problem of the leagues’ making, but one of human nature. That doesn’t absolve them from any responsibility. Abuse from angered bettors was always going to happen, and the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS all clutching their pearls as if they can’t believe it took place is ludicrously disingenuous.

So, who will be the first person banned from gambling because they harassed an athlete? Check out Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Kalshi, and get $50 in free wagers using the code “HARASSMENTNBA.”