Online payment platform Venmo is introducing a betting hotline to help NCAA players
Athletes will be able to report any harassment received from unhappy bettors
Venmo is also planning to monitor its site and report suspected illegal activity to law enforcement
Harassment of college athletes is becoming an issue of significant concern. This has become problematic since the legalization of sports betting across the US in 2018. Several college players have spoken about the online harassment they get from bettors over lost wagers involving the player or their team.
Venmo, an online payment platform owned by PayPal, and the NCAA are teaming up to curb this harmful activity. They are
forming a partnership
to launch a series of measures to aid NCAA players in combating this issue. This includes a hotline, through which NCAA athletes will be able to report any harassment they are receiving from disgruntled bettors.
In general, online harassment is a growing issue in society. In terms of college sports, much of that online harassment is related to sports betting.
A recent NCAA study found that 12% of abusive content aimed at college athletes is linked to sports betting. In particular, the study unearthed that in men's football, nearly one in five (19%) of those harassment cases involved betting-related abuse.
In some instances, bettors will send unwanted payment requests to athletes after losing a bet placed on their game performance.
“The harassment we are seeing across various online platforms is unacceptable, and we need fans to do better," NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a press release. "Several states have passed laws to crack down on this behavior to protect student-athletes, and we hope more do the same because stopping this abuse requires action on multiple fronts.”
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Venmo is offering help to athletes receiving abuse from bettors
Venmo will offer a dedicated hotline for student-athletes and the NCAA. This hotline will be available to report potential cases of abuse for investigation. It will also help to identify the types of athlete harassment that are taking place on Venmo.
The site will be providing a best practices guide for student-athletes to help them stay safe on Venmo. This will include details on how to use the reporting hotline. They will be distributing the guide directly to student-athletes through NCAA channels, including newsletters, emails, and e-learning modules.
Venmo will also be monitoring the accounts of student-athletes on an ongoing basis. This action will help mitigate an influx of requests involving game performance. Venmo will also work directly with the athletes to implement additional security measures as needed.
Additionally, Venmo will be educating the site's users on the possible outcomes of harassing athletes through unwanted requests to athletes. This could include the potential for account closure. And Venmo will report any illegal activities taking place on the site to law enforcement.
“While unwanted interactions with athletes make up an extremely small percentage of transactions on Venmo, even a small number of these incidents is unacceptable," David Szuchman, SVP, Head of Global Financial Crime and Customer Protection, PayPal, said in a press release. "The safety and security of our users remain our highest priority. Harassment or abuse of any kind is not tolerated on the platform, and strict action is taken against users who violate our policies."
Oklahoma QB Mateer was involved in a sports betting investigation relating to his Venmo activity
On a related note, recently, Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer became the center of a controversy involving sports betting and Venmo. Screenshots were taken of Mateer's Venmo account from his freshman season at Washington State. They appeared to be showing Mateer betting on college sports.
Mateer was cleared of any wrongdoing following an investigation. He said in a statement on social media that the posts were inside jokes with his friends. "I can assure my teammates, coaches, and officials at the NCAA that I have not engaged in any sports betting," Mateer's statement read.
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