Opinion: Props To The NCAA For Going After Gamblers Who Abuse College Athletes

Photo by Karl Moore on Unsplash

The NCAA recently introduced its Bad Actor Program to prevent disgruntled gamblers from harassing college athletes.

IC360 and Signify Group launched the initiative to monitor and identify abusive and threatening behavior toward athletes, coaches, and officials on online platforms, including social media. Sportsbooks can then use the evidence of abuse to ban violators.

It’s the latest attempt by the NCAA and President Charlie Baker to reduce athlete abuse.

“Athlete harassment has no place in college sports,” Baker said. “The NCAA is committed to working with stakeholders across the sports betting ecosystem to eradicate this horrific behavior that plagues sports far too often, and that is why the NCAA is the first sport governing body to participate in the Bad Actor Program.”

Program Comes In Response To NCAA Study Findings

The NCAA conducted its first study on athlete abuse in 2024. It identified more than 5,000 verified abusive, discriminatory, or threatening social media posts directed at participants in NCAA Championship events. Other key findings included:

• Sports betting was directly linked to 12% of all verified abuse
• That figure rose to 19% for men’s basketball
• More than 1,400 abusive messages were sent to one athlete in less than two weeks
• 80% of the overall abuse was directed at March Madness participants
• Women’s basketball players had about three times as many threats as men’s basketball players  

The NCAA’s 2025 GOALS study went on to find that 51% of Division I men’s basketball players received social media abuse, with 46% getting negative or threatening messages from angry bettors.

“Online harassment monitoring and student-athlete surveys have provided crucial data on the volume, nature, and sources of online abuse — particularly harassment tied to sports betting activity — and have supported reporting and enforcement actions when threatening conduct has been identified,” said Clint Hangebrauck, NCAA managing director of enterprise risk management.

More reporting and enforcement actions translate to less harassment. The NCAA also has a partnership with Venmo that identifies and disrupts betting-related threats toward athletes on the platform.

Additionally, the NCAA has helped raise awareness of athlete abuse through its national ad campaigns, including “Don’t Be a Loser” and “Draw the Line.”

Baker’s efforts to combat harassment have been laudable since he began his tenure as NCAA President in March 2023. Don’t expect that to change going forward.

“The Association will continue its work with Signify and other stakeholders to monitor online harassment across NCAA Championships, and we look forward to leveraging the Bad Actor Program to strengthen accountability and further protect college sports from threats and abuse,” he said.

Kris Johnson

Kris Johnson is a graduate of Middlebury College. He has spent most of his life working in sports, primarily writing about them. Before starting his most recent position as Deputy Editor in the summer of 2025, Johnson spent nearly four years with Catena Media as...

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