Sports
NCAA: Betting abuse of athletes common online
Sports-betting-related abuse remains one of the most common forms of online harassment directed at college athletes, coaches and officials, even as overall online abuse decreased this year, according to a study commissioned by the NCAA.
Betting and match-fixing-related abuse represented 11% of nearly 4,000 messages flagged by the study. That’s approximately twice as much as racial abuse or threats of violence.
Sexual (20%) and sexism (14%) were the most common categories of abuse. The numbers were in the same range as the previous year’s study.
Overall, online abuse directed at athletes, coaches and officials decreased by 22% year-over year, with women’s basketball seeing a significant decrease, and men’s basketball experiencing a dramatic increase.
“The NCAA condemns all forms of online abuse and harassment,” Clint Hangebrauck, NCAA Managing Director of Enterprise Risk Management, said in a statement to ESPN. “The results from this year’s study suggest that the NCAA’s multi-layered strategy of building public awareness, advocacy and forming collaborative relationships with third parties is having a positive impact and has enhanced our ability to combat abuse.”
In March, the NCAA launched a “Don’t Be a Loser” video campaign that ran during the men’s and women’s basketball tournament broadcasts, in addition to lobbying for states to ban prop betting on individual college athletes. The NCAA also partnered with online payment processor Venmo this summer in an effort to combat unwanted interactions on the platform.
This was the second year the NCAA commissioned a study on social media abuse directed at college athletes, coaches and officials. The study, which was conducted by Signify Group, an artificial intelligence firm that tracks and analyzes online abuse, monitored seven championship events, including social media accounts for 5,555 athletes, 625 coaches, 466 teams and 26 official NCAA channels during the 2024-25 academic year.
Signify researchers found 31 individuals were responsible for egregious content that warranted investigation. Eight of the individuals were involved in sports betting, according to the NCAA.
Seven abusive messages met the threshold to be shared with law enforcement, the study found.
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Former Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl issued a serious warning on Tuesday, two years after the Oct. 7 attacks carried out by Hamas. His warning comes amid the Trump administration’s efforts to broker a peace deal.
During an appearance on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich,” Pearl called out the “atrocities” of the attacks on Israel. He also commended President Donald Trump’s efforts to return hostages – both alive and dead.
Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl reacts on the court against the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum on Jan. 18, 2025. (Dale Zanine/Imagn Images)
“Today is the two-year anniversary of one of the world’s biggest holocausts, and that was the murder of 1,200 Israelis. And there were over 50 Americans killed two years ago on that day by Hamas and Palestinian terrorists that were basically protesting over the fact that they don’t have their own state,” the longtime college basketball coach said.
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“We need to continue to support President Trump. He has done an amazing job, instead of pressures from all over the world to cave and give these terrorists a reward of another state – his whole land-for-peace stuff that we tried in Gaza, it didn’t work. It failed.”
Negotiators from Israel and Hamas convened in Egypt on Monday to discuss the details of Trump’s proposed peace plan seeking to end the war and return the remaining 48 hostages being held.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting at the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025, in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump’s 20-point plan requires all hostages, both dead and alive, to be returned within 72 hours of Hamas signing off on the deal. It also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw its troops and for a complete disarmament of Hamas.
Pearl said regardless of the talks in Egypt, the return of hostages and the demilitarization of Hamas are the “baseline” for peace. He issued a grave warning about history being repeated.
“They spent all these years building a terrorist state and just waiting and waiting and waiting until a moment when they could do what they did on October 7th. We cannot let that happen again. The hostages have got to come home. Hamas has got to be demilitarized, and can no longer be involved in any future government.”
Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl yells during practice at the Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
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“Once we go there, then there’s a real possibility for President Trump to build on the Abraham Accords and have there be a prosperous, peaceful Middle East.”
Pearl, one of a handful of Jewish coaches in college basketball at the time, was named chairman of the Board of Directors for the U.S. Israel Education Association (USIEA) in April. He has been an outspoken supporter of Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks.
At the time of the announcement, Pearl said he was “proud to continue advocating for greater understanding and collaboration” between the U.S. and Israel.
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
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A hawk stolen from SoFi Stadium last month during a game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Indianapolis was returned to its rightful owner, while a second hawk remains missing.
The two birds, named Bubba and Alice, were hired by the stadium to deter other birds from the area during games and events. But on Sept. 28, the birds were stolen by an unknown suspect along with the utility task vehicle (UTV) the birds were being held in.
The two birds, named Bubba and Alice, were hired by the stadium to deter other birds from the area during games and events. (Inglewood Police Department)
According to Inglewood police, at around 2:22 p.m., a male suspect took off with a Kawasaki Mule UTV from the lake area of the NFL stadium’s grounds. In the utility vehicle were two hawks being held in green containers.
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Police said the key to the vehicle was left in the ignition at the time of the theft.
According to NBC Los Angeles, Bubba was located by a homeowner in Hacienda Heights after she called police Sunday to report the bird in her backyard. The hawks’ handler, Charles Cogger, was then contacted by law enforcement.
According to Inglewood police, at around 2:22 p.m., a male suspect took off with a Kawasaki Mule UTV from the lake area of the NFL stadium’s grounds. In the utility vehicle were two hawks being held in green containers. (Inglewood Police Department)
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“I made arrangements, got over there as quick as I could and got Bubba back,” Cogger told the station. “Alice is still out there, but this gives me hope she will show up.”
Bubba was reportedly found about 25 miles from the site of the theft.
A general interior view of SoFi Stadium prior to an NFL football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Oct. 2, 2025, in Inglewood, California. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
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It was not immediately clear if an arrest in the case had been made.
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