The NCAA teamed up with Signify to study online abuse sparked by sports betting.
Signify and the NCAA used the 2025 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to identify and study targeted online abuse directed at student-athletes, coaches, officials and committee members. Signify leveraged its Threat Matrix artificial intelligence service to monitor public comments directed at the social media accounts of 2,032 players and 346 coaches. Signify also monitored 136 teams and 269 officials and committee members.
“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,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker. “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.”
Signify and the NCAA analyzed more than 1 million posts and comments made throughout the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments with 54,096 flagged for potential abuse by AI. Signify staff later confirmed that 3,161 of the posts were abusive.
As a result, Signify initiated 103 investigations into the abusive and threatening messaging with 10 incidents referred to local law enforcement. The NCAA’s recent efforts to combat online abuse and harassment toward student-athletes are proving to be effective.
The NCAA and Signify reported a 66% decline in betting-related abuse towards women student-athletes during March Madness compared to last year’s edition of the tournament.
The men’s March Madness competition posted a 36% decline in betting-related abuse while total abuse increased by 140%. By comparison, total abuse for the women’s side was down roughly 83% compared to last year’s March Madness tournament. Collectively, the 2025 men’s and women’s tournaments posted a 23% drop in betting-related abuse.
“We have been encouraged to record a reduction in sports betting-related abuse and threat at the 2025 event, as this is often the trigger for the most egregious and threatening content we detect,” said Signify Group CEO Jonathan Hirshler. “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.”
NCAA debuts new anti-harassment campaign
The NCAA is helping combat betting-related abuse through a series of campaigns.
Earlier this year, the NCAA launched its Don’t Be a Loser TV spot. The anti-harassment video debuted before March Madness and is aimed at preventing betting-related abuse.
The TV spot is part of the NCAA’s Draw the Line campaign, which raises awareness of problem gambling while educating student-athletes on the effects of gambling.
The NCAA also provides gambling harm prevention resources and sports betting education through its partnership with EPIC Global Solutions. The partnership allows the NCAA to provide gambling education to more than 100,000 student-athletes across the country.
Potential rule change for the NCAA
The NCAA is reportedly discussing the removal of its ban on professional sports betting.
The potential opportunity to wager on pro sports is being considered after the NCAA’s. Division 1 Board of Directors proposed the rule change and voted 21-1 in favor of it.
The NCAA’s active bylaws regarding sports wagering prohibit wagering by all players, coaches and team officials on pro sports that are also played at the collegiate level. Bylaws also ban betting by players, coaches and officials on competitions sponsored by the NCAA.
The NCAA plans to maintain its current ban on all college sports wagering.
