NCAA Reports Decline in Betting Bullying for 2025 March Madness
Online abuse tied to sports betting declined during the 2025 NCAA March Madness tournaments, according to data released by the NCAA on Tuesday. The organization reported a 23% overall decrease in sports betting-related threats compared to the previous year.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:The findings point to progress in addressing online hostility toward those involved in collegiate basketball. However, the NCAA confirmed that over 3,000 threatening or abusive messages were still directed at athletes, coaches, referees, and officials throughout the tournaments.
Related: Lawmakers Revive SAFE Bet Act as March Madness NearsThe monitoring of online abuse was carried out by Signify Group, a technology company specializing in digital risk management. The NCAA retained Signify to scrutinize social media posts and messages aimed at individuals connected to the tournament, including players, coaches, game officials, and members of the selection committees.
Signify employed a combination of artificial intelligence and human review to identify and confirm messages that contained threatening or abusive language. In cases where the messages met criteria for further action, they were reported to social media platforms and, when appropriate, to law enforcement agencies.
Despite the overall reduction in betting-related abuse, the men's tournament saw a 140% increase in general abusive messages, highlighting the ongoing challenges of managing hostility in sports betting and USA online casino platforms. These were primarily directed toward selection committee members and coaching staff. However, betting-related abuse specifically decreased by 36% for the men's bracket.
The structure of the men's tournament in 2025 may have influenced the nature of public reactions. All four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, and Florida, one of the favored teams throughout the competition, ultimately secured the national championship. The relative predictability of the results may have tempered some of the more emotionally charged responses from sports bettors.
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Female Abuse Falls Drastically
On the women's side, the statistics painted a more positive picture. Overall abuse fell by 83%, and betting-related abuse dropped by 66%. The women's Final Four featured three No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 seed, UConn, which went on to win the championship. However, the reduction in abuse did not eliminate incidents entirely.
One notable case involved Chandler Prater of Mississippi State, who received a large volume of hostile messages after being involved in a play where Southern California's JuJu Watkins sustained a season-ending knee injury. Prater described the experience as overwhelming and unlike anything she had encountered before.
Signify reported that their AI system initially flagged over 54,000 posts during the course of the tournament. Upon review by human analysts, 3,161 messages were verified as abusive or threatening in nature.
These verified messages were subsequently brought to the attention of social media companies and, in certain instances, law enforcement. This led to the removal of harmful posts and the imposition of restrictions on the accounts responsible for them.
NCAA President Charlie Baker emphasized that reducing online harassment remains a priority for the organization. He expressed support for initiatives aimed at protecting participants in collegiate sports from digital abuse.
Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify, noted that the decrease in sports betting-related threats is a promising sign, as this category of abuse is often the source of the most extreme and dangerous messages they encounter.
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