The NCAA reported sports betting-related abuse fell 23% year-over-year during 2025's March Madness.
Key takeaways
- Harassment from sports bettors was down 66% for women, 36% for men during March Madness.
- Signify notified law enforcement of 10 threatening investigations.
- The NCAA launched a campaign this year aimed at stopping sports-betting abuse.
According to a study Signify Group conducted, bettors directed 15% of abuse at student-athletes during the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments, down from 42% in 2024.
Sports betting harassment directed toward women decreased 66%, while overall abuse fell 83%. On the men’s side, betting-related harassment dropped 36% compared to the previous year, despite total abuse rising 140%.
“We have been encouraged to record a reduction in sports betting-related abuse and threats at the 2025 event, as this is often the trigger for the most egregious and threatening content we detect," Signify Group CEO Jonathan Hirshler said.
Clint Hangebrauck, the NCAA's managing director of enterprise risk management, told ESPN much of the abuse was directed at the NCAA tournament committee after it announced the field of 68. North Carolina Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham, who served as the NCAA men’s committee chair, reportedly received online harassment from fans of teams that didn’t make the tournament.
Monitoring harassment
Coaching changes that occurred during the postseason also led to harassment. There were fewer upsets in this year’s NCAA tournament than during most seasons, especially the men’s, which saw all four No. 1 seeds reach the Final Four, possibly a factor in the decline of abuse.
Signify monitored over 2,700 social media accounts and used artificial intelligence to identify abusive comments directed at athletes, coaches, teams, and officials. AI flagged over 54,000 posts, with 3,161 that human analysts identified as abusive and threatening. Signify conducted 103 account investigations where threatening content was involved. The company referred 10 of those to law enforcement.
“By supporting the NCAA in demonstrating that abusers can be identified and will be reported to law enforcement, where criminal thresholds are broken, it is possible to see a deterrent effect in play,” Hirshler said. “We are proud to support the NCAA in this crucial space and will continue to expand the layers of protection available to its athletes and wider community, such as DM support, in the months ahead.”
Remaining vigilant
The NCAA has been outspoken and vigilant about harassment for a couple of years. In March 2024, NCAA President Charlie Baker called for state lawmakers and gaming regulators to ban player prop betting on college athletes.
This year, the NCAA launched a non-harassment public service campaign called “Don’t be a loser,” aimed at fans.
“One of the first things student-athletes told me when I became NCAA president was that they were being harassed online by people who are following or betting on their games,” Baker said in the NCAA release. “From day one, it's been a priority to study this issue, monitor the public interactions, protect student-athletes and allow them to focus on being students and competing at the highest level on the court with their teammates.”
Mississippi State women’s basketball player Chandler Prater said in the NCAA’s release that she received “hateful and abusive” messages after a regional finals game against USC this year. She added that the NCAA and Signify supported her and helped her manage the harassment.
“Online abuse isn't an issue the NCAA can solve on its own, so it's been critical to form strong relationships with a variety of stakeholders to make progress,” Hangebrauck said. “While the data shows some progress has been made in areas of focus, there is clearly still a lot of collaborative work to be done to create a better environment for our student-athletes and other NCAA stakeholders.”
