The NCAA has released a full report on a study done in conjunction with ethical data science company Signifiy Group, revealing a host of concerning trends among some NCAA fans.
After a portion of the study was released via ESPN earlier this week pointing to alarming behavior among sports bettors, the full study found a host of other concerning trends, including various racial, sexual, homophobic, and violent messages in the sample studied.
"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," NCAA president Charlie Baker said via the release. "Fans have to do better, social media companies have to do more to identify and remove this content.”
The study of more than 72,000 messages found that 80% of abuse was directed at March Madness athletes. More specifically, the study found:
- 18% of all abuse was sexual in nature
- 12% was in relation to sports betting
- 10% of content was found to contain racist messages
- 9% was found to be homophobic or transphobic
- 6% was violent in nature
“There is absolutely no place for harassment or discrimination of any kind in college sports,” said Duke University’s vice president and director of athletics Nina King. “We are committed to protecting student-athletes who should be celebrated for their academic and athletic achievements in a safe environment, free from online abuse and harm."
Signify Group’s study began back in December with their findings showing that while abuse largely stemmed from the Men’s and Women’s Division I Basketball Championship, other sources of significant abuse also included additional championships such as women’s volleyball, women’s gymnastics, and the College Football Playoffs, with findings of online abuse and threats across sports.
"This initiative has been a fascinating learning exercise," said Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify Group. "Our Threat Matrix service is used across global sports, covering some of the highest profile athletes on the planet. Our analysts were therefore astounded to see student-athletes receiving volumes of targeted abuse that compare to professional sportsmen and women playing at the very highest levels of world sport. This data underpins the NCAA's admirable work in this area as these student-athletes (together with coaches and officials) clearly require support."
'There must be more done'
Interestingly, within the study, roughly 92% of all flagged sexual messages were sent from bot accounts, indicating that stronger measures are needed from social media providers themselves to crack down on abusive behavior.
That bot behavior was not the only accounts involved in sexual content and abuse, as the most prominent form found in the study seemed to indicate that both male and female athletes were the target of sexual harassment.
"I've seen firsthand the negative impacts of social media abuse on the mental health of myself and my loved ones," Butler basketball assistant coach Connor McCaffery said. "There must be more done to address this toxic behavior impacting sports at all levels."
In conjunction with the various forms of abuse found, the 12% of abuse tied directly to sports betting seemed to suggest, according to the study, that much of the other abuse was influenced by sports-betting behaviors. Indeed, as betting markets increased, the prevalence of harassment increased in conjunction, with the most prevalent coming from men’s basketball and football.
