Something has been brewing ever since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the federal ban on sports betting in 2018. As each of the 38 states (and counting) opened up their wallets to collect tax revenue from regulated bookmakers an unanticipated phenomenon has been sweeping through collegiate campuses. No, not the warp-speed rise in wagers on NCAA sports. That part was predictable. Instead, there has been a swift increase in online harassment and abuse against young athletes who play for the institutional programs and respective games/events that moneyline, point spread, and prop bets are built upon.
One segment of this athlete base is bearing the disproportionate brunt of this disgusting abuse – young women. Below is a breakdown of why this lamentable trend against women is especially concerning for current and aspiring athletes who not only face the risk of violence, but a palpable detriment to their mental health. Further, we hope this serves as a call for collegiate programs, regulators, and gambling operators to take action against unacceptable behavior from disgruntled gamblers.
How the Rise in Online Harassment from Disgruntled Sports Bettors is Putting Young Women Athlete Mental Health in Harm’s Way
Statistics on Female Athlete Harassment by Bettors
The NCAA released statistics regarding collegiate athlete abuse at the digital hands of disgruntled bettors in the fourth quarter of 2024. Gender-based variances were strikingly clear:
Women athletes received approximately 59% more abusive messages than men
24% of abusive messages related to women’s softball were from angry bettors, compared to 12% across all sports
Women’s championship softball received 100% more messages alleging cheating and corruption when compared with the men’s championship baseball
Women’s basketball student-athletes received approximately 3-times more threats than men’s basketball student-athletes
Transphobic comments, which included those calling into question original gender of female athletes, accounted for 9% of the most common harassment categories
Abusive messages with sexual overtones led all harassment categories at 18%
Creates Anxiety and Stress…and PTSD?
Taken on its own, online harassment from disgruntled sports bettors can directly tax young female athlete mental health by inciting feelings of anxiety and stress. Remember that they are particularly vulnerable when considering that threats of physical and sexual violence are already innate to college campuses and adjacent areas. Data shows that nearly 10% of female graduate and professional students (compared to 2.5% of male counterparts) experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. The numbers for undergraduate students, who comprise the bulk of enrollment for NCAA Division I programs, are gravely concerning with more than 26% of female students (compared to under 7% of males) experiencing rape or sexual assault. To state that online harassment should be taken seriously as a threat to physical and mental health of female athletes is an understatement. Furthermore, consider research which finds that 35% of cyber-harassment victims show clinically significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). So even if online abuse does not manifest as a physical attack, significant damage is already done.
Adds Concerning Complexity to Cooccurring Mental Health Issues
If everything above weren’t enough to call for immediate action, take note that elite young athletes exhibit greater vulnerabilities to mental health issues when compared to the general population. These include the following:
- Chronic Stress
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
- Depression
- Eating Disorders and Disordered Eating
- Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Problem Gambling (ironically, in this case) and Problem Gaming
- Hyper-sexuality concerns (view more)
- Substance Abuse
Symptoms of all the above can certainly be aggravated by online abuse from angry gamblers. However, the trend adds a concerning layer of complexity to the equation. For instance, researchers report that emotional abuse leads to high levels of self-criticism and may increase one’s chances of developing an eating disorder. According to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) report up to 45% of female athletes (compared to males) suffer from an eating disorder and/or disordered eating. Given that a female athlete is already at a higher risk for such an issue, it’s easy to draw a straight line between online abuse and further compromise. Research also finds that female single sport athletes (i.e. track and field) face a greatest risk of anxiety and depression than their male equals. Again, these are just two among other references of cooccurring mental health concerns that may be aggravated by online abuse. This problem is complex, and more will become known as bodies of research grow in line with the unexpected pattern of problematic gambling behavior.
We discuss what regulators, gambling operators, and collegiate athletic programs can do to better protect the mental health of all athletes, right here. However, if you have grown weary of reading about yet another threat to young adults in America and are ready to make a change, reach out to Kindbridge. At a clinical level, we are here to help athletes and their families deal with compromised mental health (click here). At an organizational level, we are available to help regulators, operators, and educational institutions build customized programs to protect at-risk individuals.
Concerned Athletes, Families, Coaches, Collegiate Administrators, and Gambling Operators
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