NCAA Study Finds Online Abuse is Rampant Towards Student-Athletes, Coaches, and Officials

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The pilot study looked at seven NCAA championships and the College Football Playoff National Championship and monitored over 1.3 million social media posts to student-athletes, coaches, and officials and found over 5,000 pieces of abusive, discriminatory, or threatening content.

The NCAA is calling for immediate action from fans and social media platforms to stop the abuse. The study found 18% of the abuse was sexual in nature, the most common form of harassment. 12% was sports betting related with 740 instances and 10% was racist. 9% was homophobic or transphobic and 6% was violent threats.

March Madness and Female Athletes Hit Hardest

The study found 80% of the verified abuse was directed at March Madness participants. Women’s basketball student-athletes were the most vulnerable, receiving three times more threats than their male counterparts.

In some cases, athletes received thousands of messages in a short period of time, one student-athlete received over 1,400 messages in two weeks.

NCAA President Charlie Baker said, “I’ve heard too many student-athletes talk about abusive messages they have received, and for the first time ever, we now have evidence of the scale at which this is occurring. It’s incredibly alarming and completely unacceptable. Fans have to do better, social media companies have to do more to identify and remove this content, and we all need reminders about responsible social media usage. Student-athletes come to college hoping to fulfill their athletic and academic dreams, and our job at the NCAA is to provide them with the most fulfilling experience possible. We will exhaust all options to reduce the harassment and vitriol student-athletes are experiencing too often today.”

Impact of Sports Betting and Racism in College Sports

Sports betting seems to be a major contributor to the abuse with 12% of the abuse directly related to betting behavior. As betting markets grow, athletes and officials are becoming targets for angry bettors.

Racism was another big issue with 10% of the abuse being racist. The NCAA’s research found every championship in the study except FCS football had instances of racial abuse.

College sports leaders, including Purdue men’s basketball head coach Matt Painter, said online harassment is harmful to student-athlete mental health. “Thousands of student-athletes across the country are harassed daily on social media,” Painter said, urging social media companies to do more to remove the content.

In response to the study the NCAA has introduced new mental health support for student-athletes effective August 1, 2024. Division I schools must now offer mental health counseling and services in line with NCAA guidelines.