The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) is enhancing its More Than A Bet campaign as student athletes in the state face gambling-related online harassment.
The commission has made updates to its campaign ahead of March Madness, one of the largest sports betting events in America. It is also observing Problem Gambling Awareness Month with the launch of the revamped campaign. The OCCC has reported continual harassment against student athletes despite regulatory steps to combat abuse.
A year ago, Ohio operators were banned from offering NCAA player prop markets.
Ohio group helps launch campaign
Last September, Ohio for Responsible Gambling helped debut the More Than A Bet campaign with up to 25% of abusive messaging toward student athletes being gambling-related. The poor messaging remains rampant as one in three high-profile athletes receive abusive messages with more than 500 of those messages including death threats.
“People are mad when they lose a bet. That’s not an excuse to threaten someone’s safety,” said OCCC Problem Gambling Services Manager Cory Brown. “People need to understand the mental harm that comes from this trolling, even if you’ve never placed a wager.”
The NCAA reported roughly 4,000 abusive or threatening messages during last year’s men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments. Female athletes are being heavily impacted by harassment as women’s basketball players receive three times the amount of threats than men’s basketball players, according to data provided by the OCCC.
Student athletes are also facing repercussions for responding to abusive messages related to gambling. The OCCC reported that focus groups comprised of students from Bowling Green State University and Miami University found student athletes face “significant concern” of retaliation if they reported the abuse to their institutions or the NCAA.
Ongoing issue in Ohio
Brown and others expect online harassment toward student athletes to continue.
“Even though Ohio sports betters can’t wager on NCAA player props, player stats play a profound role in analyzing games. That’s why those we interviewed don’t see the harassment going away anytime soon,” said Brown.
The OCCC manager wants to take additional steps in the future to combat online harassment toward athletes by potentially creating a confidential reporting system for athletes. Brown also aims to establish mandatory training for NCAA coaches and staff.
Ohio for Responsible Gambling is also contributing to future efforts with the looming launch of an Ohio Athlete Wellness App in partnership with Kindbridge Research Institute.
