AI-Powered Study Reveals Decline in Online Abuse During March Madness 2025

Study shows less online abuse of athletes during March Madness

June 11 - The NCAA recently released a study that indicated a decrease in social media abuse targeting student-athletes, including from sports bettors, during March Madness. According to the study, athletes were targeted in 15 percent of March Madness-related abusive posts and comments flagged by data science firm Signify Group during the 2025 men's and women's tournaments. That was a significant drop from the previous year's tournaments, when 42 percent of March Madness-spawned abusive posts and comments were directed at student-athletes. Per the NCAA's report, Signify Group gleaned this year's data by using its "Threat Matrix" technology to monitor the social-media accounts of 2,042 players, 346 coaches, 136 teams and 269 game officials and selection committee members. More than 1 million posts and comments directed at these groups on X, TikTok and Instagram were logged and analyzed by Signify's artificial intelligence. That led to 54,096 posts and comments being flagged for potential abuse or threat. Of those, Signify's human analysts confirmed 3,161 as "abusive or threatening." Signify investigated 103 social media accounts for their malicious activity and referred 10 of them to law enforcement. "By supporting the NCAA in demonstrating that abusers can be identified and will be reported to law enforcement -- where criminal thresholds are broken -- it is possible to see a deterrent effect in play," Jonathan Hirshler, Signify Group's CEO, said in a statement. Other findings from the study: Abuse stemming from sports bettors decreased by 23 percent, all abuse directed at those on the women's March Madness side dropped approximately 83 percent and all abuse directed at those on the men's side increased by 140 percent. While the 140 percent increase in men's tournament total abuse and the significant drop in abuse directed at student-athletes overall might not appear to jibe, the difference is in the sharp increase of this year's abuse being directed at adults -- such as coaches and the NCAA Tournament selection committee chaired by North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham. --Field Level Media Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Sports

NCAA says online abuse related to sports betting declined during this year's March Madness

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Online abuse related to sports betting decreased during the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournaments compared with the prior year, but people involved in the competition still received more than 3,000 threatening messages, the NCAA said Tuesday. The NCAA hired Signify Group to monitor messages directed at athletes, coaches, game officials, selection committee members and others with official roles in the tournament. Signify used both artificial intelligence and human analysts to confirm the threats and, when necessary, report them to law enforcement. Overall, abuse related to sports betting was down 23%, the NCAA said in a news release. The men's March Madness bracket was notable this year for the scarcity of upsets, with all four No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four and Florida, a popular pick to win it all, claiming the national title. On the women's side, three top seeds made the national semifinals and No. 2 seed UConn, among the pre-tournament favorites, won the championship. The NCAA's analysis found that overall, abusive statements directed at people involved in the men's tournament increased by 140% -- much of it directed at the selection committee and coaches -- while abuse related to sports betting was down 36%. Abuse was down 83% on the women's side and betting-related abuse declined 66%. One women's player who was targeted online was Chandler Prater of Mississippi State, who was guarding Southern California star JuJu Watkins when she suffered a season-ending knee injury. "I received all kinds of messages, so many of them hateful and abusive," Prater said in a statement. "It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before." Signify's AI flagged more than 54,000 posts, and its human analysts confirmed that 3,161 messages were abusive or threatening, the NCAA said. Those messages were reported to social media platforms and occasionally to law enforcement. The reporting led to the removal of abusive posts and restrictions on social media accounts. NCAA President Charlie Baker said he has made curbing online harassment a top priority. "We have been encouraged to record a reduction in sports betting-related abuse and threat at the 2025 event," Signify CEO Jonathan Hirshler said, "as this is often the trigger for the most egregious and threatening content we detect."

NCAA says online abuse related to sports betting declined during March Madness

INDIANAPOLIS -- Online abuse related to sports betting decreased during the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournaments compared with the prior year, but people involved in the competition still received more than 3,000 threatening messages, the NCAA said Tuesday. The NCAA hired Signify Group to monitor messages directed at athletes, coaches, game officials, selection committee members and others with official roles in the tournament. Signify used both artificial intelligence and human analysts to confirm the threats and, when necessary, report them to law enforcement. Overall, abuse related to sports betting was down 23%, the NCAA said in a news release. The men's March Madness bracket was notable this year for the scarcity of upsets, with all four No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four and Florida, a popular pick to win it all, claiming the national title. On the women's side, three top seeds made the national semifinals and No. 2 seed UConn, among the pre-tournament favorites, won the championship. The NCAA's analysis found that overall, abusive statements directed at people involved in the men's tournament increased by 140% -- much of it directed at the selection committee and coaches -- while abuse related to sports betting was down 36%. Abuse was down 83% on the women's side and betting-related abuse declined 66%. One women's player who was targeted online was Chandler Prater of Mississippi State, who was guarding Southern California star JuJu Watkins when she suffered a season-ending knee injury. "I received all kinds of messages, so many of them hateful and abusive," Prater said in a statement. "It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before." Signify's AI flagged more than 54,000 posts, and its human analysts confirmed that 3,161 messages were abusive or threatening, the NCAA said. Those messages were reported to social media platforms and occasionally to law enforcement. The reporting led to the removal of abusive posts and restrictions on social media accounts. NCAA President Charlie Baker said he has made curbing online harassment a top priority. "We have been encouraged to record a reduction in sports betting-related abuse and threat at the 2025 event," Signify CEO Jonathan Hirshler said, "as this is often the trigger for the most egregious and threatening content we detect."

NCAA Says Online Abuse Related to Sports Betting Declined During This Year's March Madness

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Online abuse related to sports betting decreased during the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournaments compared with the prior year, but people involved in the competition still received more than 3,000 threatening messages, the NCAA said Tuesday. The NCAA hired Signify Group to monitor messages directed at athletes, coaches, game officials, selection committee members and others with official roles in the tournament. Signify used both artificial intelligence and human analysts to confirm the threats and, when necessary, report them to law enforcement. Overall, abuse related to sports betting was down 23%, the NCAA said in a news release. The men's March Madness bracket was notable this year for the scarcity of upsets, with all four No. 1 seeds advancing to the Final Four and Florida, a popular pick to win it all, claiming the national title. On the women's side, three top seeds made the national semifinals and No. 2 seed UConn, among the pre-tournament favorites, won the championship. The NCAA's analysis found that overall, abusive statements directed at people involved in the men's tournament increased by 140% -- much of it directed at the selection committee and coaches -- while abuse related to sports betting was down 36%. Abuse was down 83% on the women's side and betting-related abuse declined 66%. One women's player who was targeted online was Chandler Prater of Mississippi State, who was guarding Southern California star JuJu Watkins when she suffered a season-ending knee injury. "I received all kinds of messages, so many of them hateful and abusive," Prater said in a statement. "It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before." Signify's AI flagged more than 54,000 posts, and its human analysts confirmed that 3,161 messages were abusive or threatening, the NCAA said. Those messages were reported to social media platforms and occasionally to law enforcement. The reporting led to the removal of abusive posts and restrictions on social media accounts. NCAA President Charlie Baker said he has made curbing online harassment a top priority. "We have been encouraged to record a reduction in sports betting-related abuse and threat at the 2025 event," Signify CEO Jonathan Hirshler said, "as this is often the trigger for the most egregious and threatening content we detect." Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Online abuse of March Madness athletes drops

Joined ESPN in 2014 Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008 Social media abuse targeting student-athletes, including from sports bettors, decreased during March Madness, but tournament officials and coaches experienced a spike in harassment, according to study results released Tuesday by the NCAA. Athletes were targeted in 15% of the abuse flagged by data-science firm Signify Group during the men's and women's basketball tournaments this year, down from 42% last year. Sports betting-related abuse dropped by 23%, the study found. The men's tournament featured the fewest outright upsets by betting underdogs (14) since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Social media abuse directed at participants in the women's tournament decreased 83%, but the men's side saw a 140% increase in harassment, much of it directed at the selection committee and coaches. "There was a lot in there that was directed at the NCAA committee from the outset of March Madness, with some of the bubble teams and who got in and who got out; couple coaches' changes that happened throughout March Madness seemed to trigger a lot of abuse, as well," Clint Hangebrauck, managing director of enterprise risk management for the NCAA, told ESPN. North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who chaired the men's selection committee, received online abuse and harassment after the Tar Heels became one of the last teams into the field. Local media reports said Cunningham received "angry, profane and threatening emails" from "hundreds" of fans of other schools. "Obviously, we don't want abuse to be directed at anybody," Hangebrauck said, "but from a mental health and resources standpoint, some of those mature adult-aged individuals can hopefully deal with those situations a little bit better." Signify Group used artificial intelligence to monitor over a million comments directed at players, teams, coaches, officials and other stakeholders on X, Instagram and TikTok. In its second study for the NCAA, Signify Group flagged 3,161 posts as abusive or threatening and reported them to the relevant social media platforms. The company investigated 103 social media accounts behind the threatening content and referred 10 cases to law enforcement. "By supporting the NCAA in demonstrating that abusers can be identified and will be reported to law enforcement -- where criminal thresholds are broken -- it is possible to see a deterrent effect in play," Jonathan Hirschler, Signify Group's CEO, said in a news release, adding that abuse-related sports betting is often behind the "most egregious and threatening content." NCAA president Charlie Baker has prioritized the issue of sports betting-related harassment directed at student-athletes and continues to push for states to ban prop bets on individual college players. The NCAA is also advocating for anti-harassment laws that could lead to bettors being banned from state-licensed sportsbooks. The decrease in sports betting-related abuse this year coincided with the NCAA's "Don't be a loser" anti-harassment campaign that ran during the men's and women's tournaments. Additionally, the NCAA is turning to technology to shield athletes from abuse. Signify Group hid social media abuse sent to Mississippi State forward Chandler Prater, who was guarding Southern California star JuJu Watkins when Watkins suffered a season-ending knee injury in the NCAA tournament. Prater told ESPN she began receiving abuse on Instagram, including racial slurs, directly after the game and eventually shut off social media for approximately two weeks. Prater said she wants other athletes to understand that they're not alone in receiving harassment. "I know that [online abuse] impacts the athlete behind the screen and the athlete in the jersey," Prater said. "At the end of the day, we are humans and people with feelings and emotions, just like everybody else. It just gets really crazy at times."