NCAA and Venmo team up to stamp out student-athlete abuse
PayPal-owned mobile payment service to offer a dedicated hotline and best practice guide in a bid to protect college athletes
Ahead of the first week of the college football season this weekend, the two entities have joined forces to raise awareness of the rising online abuse aimed at student-athletes.
In a statement, the duo cited research released in December 2022 from the Pew Research Center that found nearly half of US teenagers had been bullied or harassed online.
Meanwhile, a NCAA study from last October said 12% of abuse aimed at college athletes was linked to sports betting, and approximately one in five cases in men’s football was betting-related.
The statement noted that part of the abuse has seen bettors sending unsolicited payment requests to athletes, via Venmo, after losing wagers.
As part of the collaboration, Venmo will offer a dedicated hotline for student-athletes and the NCAA to report abuse.
Student-athletes will also be given resources, including a best practice guide on how to stay safe, on the Venmo app.
The payment service will also monitor student-athletes’ accounts regarding the “influx” of requests surrounding game performances and help with additional security if it is needed.
As for users of the app, they will be informed of the possible outcomes if they harass athletes by sending payment requests for lost wagers.
David Szuchman, PayPal SVP and head of global financial crime and customer protection, said: “While unwanted interactions to athletes make up an extremely small percentage of transactions on Venmo, even a small number of these incidents is unacceptable.
“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.
“Through these measures, we are taking decisive steps to help prevent the misuse of our platform and ensure all our users feel protected when they use Venmo.”
Charlie Baker, NCAA president, added: “The harassment we are seeing across various online platforms is unacceptable, and we need fans to do better.
“We applaud Venmo for taking action, and we need more social media companies and online platforms to do the same.
“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.”
The NCAA reported following the conclusion of March Madness that sports betting abuse fell 26% this year.