The NCAA on Thursday launched a new public service announcement as part of its Draw the Line campaign to bring awareness to the harassment and hurdles that student-athletes face due to sports betting. Coinciding with Problem Gambling Awareness Month, the new spot will be aired throughout March Madness and highlight the importance of protecting student-athletes.
Sports betting continues to be an issue in college sports and threatens the well-being of student-athletes and the integrity of NCAA competition. As betting markets have grown, so has the prevalence of harassment. In a recent study, the NCAA found that almost half of Division I men's basketball players experience online, verbal or physical abuse by fans for betting losses. In another study of public comments targeting participants in seven NCAA championships and the College Football Playoff National Championship, student-athletes in Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships received the most abuse, nearly 4,000 verified abusive messages, with 80% of all verified malicious content occurring during the tournaments.
Because of the alarming rate of abuse and harassment student-athletes face from angry fans who lose a bet, the NCAA is drawing the line and taking real action to protect student-athletes.
"Student-athletes face enough pressure in their competitive environment without the additional burdens brought by the expectations of sports bettors. Real damaging mental health and well-being effects come from the immense amount of harassment they're receiving from their peers and from social media," said Clint Hangebrauck, NCAA managing director of enterprise risk management. "At the NCAA, we employ educational and preventative measures to make college athletics a space to be supported and celebrated, not targeted and threatened."
The new video highlights the steps the NCAA has taken and continues to build on to protect student-athletes and competition integrity:
- Defending the integrity of the game by monitoring more than 22,000 competitions every year and enforcing fair competition.
- Educating more than 300,000 student-athletes about the dangers of sports betting through EPIC Global Solutions and the NCAA e-learning module.
- Running the largest surveillance program in the country through collaborations with Signify Group and Venmo.
- Leading state advocacy efforts toward changes to prop bets.
In addition to the public service campaign, the NCAA on Thursday released Above the Noise: Protecting Your Mental Health, Safety and Identity Online, a new e-learning module focused on educating current and prospective student-athletes in recognizing the impact of online harassment, as well as tools and measures they can take to prevent and report abuse. Learn more here.
For more information on the Draw the Line campaign and the preventive measures the NCAA is taking, visit ncaa.org/drawtheline.
