Study – ‘Angry bettors’ behind growing abuse of NCAA athletes

According to a new analysis conducted by the NCAA, abuse by “angry sports bettors” is one of the most common forms of harassment of college athletes, making up at least 12% of all publicly posted social media abuse.

The NCAA partnered with data science company Signify Group, which analyzed the social media accounts of more than 3,000 college athletes, nearly 500 coaches, 200 event officials and 165 teams during the 2024 College Football Playoff, men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. did Series and Volleyball and Gymnastics Championships.

The NCAA, which will release full results Thursday, released a quote from Sports Betting on ESPN on Tuesday.

The study defined “angry sports bettors” as those who “engage in problematic and intrusive communication due to problematic events and outcomes contrary to bet predictions.” Athletes received abusive messages before, after and during the event. The survey listed sexual harassment, racism and homophobia among other common harassment categories. Signify analysts found some offensive posts that didn’t clearly state that gambling still has anything to do with betting.

The analysis found 743 abusive or threatening messages referencing flag betting or match-fixing allegations, 73% of which occurred during March Madness, the most popular event with American bettors. Female athletes received nearly 59% more derogatory messages than males, the analysis found.

The problem even occurred in sports less popular with gamblers, including softball, where 24% of abusive messages were flagged from angry bettors.

The NCAA emphasized that the analysis only covered public-facing threats, not private messages, where, according to Signify executives, harassment is likely worse.

Signify’s research into social media harassment in sports worldwide found that angry sports bettors drive 45% of all abuse surrounding some major sports tournaments.

The NCAA shared a few examples of abusive messages sent during March Madness, including one directed at a high-profile men’s basketball player before a tournament game that read, “Yo no big deal but if you don’t get 22 points and 12 boards you know And all who love will die.” Other examples include requests for money.

“It’s clear to us … as the prevalence of sports betting has increased, so has the prevalence of sports betting-related abuse,” Clint Hanzbruck, the NCAA’s managing director of enterprise risk, told ESPN.

Eighteen of the 38 states that offer legal sports betting, as well as the District of Columbia, prohibit licensed sportsbooks from offering college prop bets, a ban that the NCAA supports. Gambling regulators in states with such bans have reported fewer problems with harassment, according to Hangebrack.

“I don’t want to draw too many conclusions from it,” he said, “but it seems to be having a positive effect.”

X Introduce artificial intelligence used to flag potentially abusive social media posts tagged athletes, coaches, teams and officials on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. The company’s data scientists reviewed the posts and flagged those that met criteria for harassment or abuse. Some were considered serious enough to be referred to authorities, the company said.