NCAA Study Shows Betting-Related Abuse of College Athletes Common Online

A study commissioned by the NCAA revealed Tuesday that sports betting-related abuse remains one of the most common forms of online harassment directed at college athletes, coaches, and officials, per ESPN’s David Purdum.

Online Abuse Decreased By 22% Year Over Year

According to Purdum, betting and match-fixing-related abuse represented 11% of nearly 4,000 messages flagged by the study. Sexual (20%) and sexism (14%) were the most common categories of abuse.

The numbers were in the same range as the previous year’s study.

Online abuse directed at athletes, coaches, and officials decreased by 22% year over year. Women’s basketball saw a significant drop, while “men’s basketball experienced a dramatic increase,” Purdum noted.

“The NCAA condemns all forms of online abuse and harassment,” Clint Hangebrauck, NCAA managing director of enterprise risk management, said in a statement to ESPN.

“The results from this year’s study suggest that the NCAA’s multi-layered strategy of building public awareness, advocacy and forming collaborative relationships with third parties is having a positive impact and has enhanced our ability to combat abuse.”

NCAA, Venmo Partnered To Curb Harassment Of College Athletes

The NCAA also partnered with online payment processor Venmo this summer in an effort to combat abuse and harassment of college athletes on the platform.

Purdum added that this was the second year the NCAA commissioned a study on social media abuse directed at college athletes, coaches, and officials. The research was conducted by Signify Group.

The study monitored seven championship events, including social media accounts for 5,555 athletes, 625 coaches, 466 teams, and 26 official NCAA channels during the 2024-25 academic year.

Signify researchers found 31 individuals were responsible for egregious content that warranted investigation. Eight of the individuals were involved in sports betting, according to the NCAA.

Seven abusive messages met the harassment criteria to be shared with law enforcement, the study found.

NCAA Investigating 13 Former Players For Betting Violations

Last month, the NCAA announced that 13 men’s basketball players from six schools were involved in gambling schemes, including betting against their own team, game manipulation, and sharing information with third parties for gambling purposes.

Players formerly associated with Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley State remain under investigation for gambling violations, according to the NCAA, which declined to name the athletes until the infractions process has concluded.

“The NCAA monitors over 22,000 contests every year and will continue to aggressively pursue competition integrity risks such as these,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said. “I am grateful for the NCAA enforcement team’s relentless work and for the schools’ cooperation in these matters.

“The rise of sports betting is creating more opportunity for athletes across sports to engage in this unacceptable behavior, and while legalized sports betting is here to stay, regulators and gaming companies can do more to reduce these integrity risks by eliminating prop bets and giving sports leagues a seat at the table when setting policies.”

Betting accounts associated with a gambling ring under federal investigation placed wagers deemed suspicious by bookmakers against Eastern Michigan, Temple, North Carolina A&T, New Orleans, and Mississippi Valley State over the past two seasons.