College Athletes Face Betting-Related Harassment on Social Media

Imagine being a college athlete and receiving nasty messages from people who lost bets on your games. That's what many college athletes are dealing with. A study by the NCAA and a data science company shows that at least 12% of public social media abuse against college athletes comes from "angry sports bettors." These are people who get mad when their bets don't go their way and take it out on the athletes. The study looked at social media accounts of over 3,000 college athletes, 500 coaches, 200 event officials, and 165 teams during big events like March Madness and the College World Series. They found that athletes, especially women, get more abuse than men. The most abuse happens during March Madness, but even in less popular betting sports like softball, athletes get harassed.

The NCAA and the data science company, Signify Group, found over 700 abusive or threatening messages related to gambling during these events. Some messages even asked athletes for money. The NCAA says the problem is likely worse in private messages. The NCAA is trying to stop this by working with states that ban betting on college sports. They think it's helping because those states have reported fewer issues. It's a tough situation for athletes. They're just trying to play their best, but some people are making it hard for them.

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