NCAA calls for an end to student-athlete sports betting harassment
Pilot report analyzes over 72,000 messages, of which 12% were related to sports betting, as NCAA also requests social media sites to “curb rampant online abuse”
A newly released National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) report into abusive behavior aimed at college athletes found that 12% of the messages sent were related to sports betting.
Collaborating with Signify Group and using its Threat Matrix model, the pilot study looked at online harassment in college sports.
The study monitored public comments aimed at the online profiles of student-athletes, coaches, and officials participating in seven NCAA championships and the college football national playoffs.
In relation to sports betting-related messages, “Angry Sports Bettors” were defined as “individuals who engage in problematic and intrusive communication due to match events and results contradicting bettors’ predictions and thus fueling abusive messages towards student-athletes, coaches, and officials.”
Reviewing over 72,000 messages from a wider range of 1.3 million posts, Signify Group analysts found as sports betting has exploded in the US, so has the number of abusive messages received by collegiate athletes.
In total, there were more than 743 instances of abuse aimed at student-athletes related to sports betting and match-fixing.
However, the study did highlight that private messages sent were not included in the study and because of that the issue is likely to be worse.
Other forms of abuse included sexual, accounting for 18% of all messages, racist (10%), homophobic (9%), and violence (6%).
An early set of data was released in May following the conclusion of March Madness, which showed more than 540 betting-related abusive messages aimed at men’s and women’s basketball players and game officials.
As per the full study, 80% of abusive messages were directed at March Madness students, with female basketball student-athletes receiving around three times more threats than their male counterparts.
According to ESPN, NCAA president Charlie Baker said the body had been “talking with sportsbooks about limiting individual prop bets on college athletes”.
The Signify study read: “This is becoming a familiar and growing pattern across sports.
“As a comparison, Signify’s research into other global professional sports (beyond US college competitions) has detected significant levels of this theses? Issues, with as much as 45% of all abuse surrounding some major sports tournaments being driven by angry sports bettors.”
Matt Painter, Purdue University men’s basketball head coach, said: “Online abuse and cyberbullying have no place in our society or college athletics.
“The increased exposure to online gambling only exacerbates the online abuse, with many student-athletes receiving death threats via social media.
“We are asking all social media companies and platforms to do more to identify and remove these online threats and make their platforms safer for everyone.”
Clint Hangebrauck, NCAA managing director of enterprise risk management, added: “This groundbreaking study will assist the Association to analyze and assess risks to devise effective solutions and guardrails to protect student-athletes from abusive threats and harms.
“The NCAA will continue to work with Signify, campus leaders, social platforms, law enforcement, betting operators, and government officials to combat this horrific behavior and drive change for college sports and society.”
In an attempt to better protect student-athletes, the NCAA has been calling for the banning of prop bets across all US states.