[M T]

I see that there is some consideration of banning gambling on what you mention, but I don't see evidence that this is the "biggest issue".
The best article I've found on the 2023-2024 study by the NCAA was posted in October 2024.
72,000 posts or comments (on athletes' social media) were flagged by software for review (out of 1.2M posts/comments).
The confirmed over 5,000 posts containing abusive, discriminatory or threatening content. 

The study revealed: 

• 18% of all abuse was sexual, making it the most prevalent type of abuse used to target male and female student-athletes. 
  
• 12% of all abuse was related to sports betting, with more than 740 instances. As betting markets increased, so did the prevalence of harassment, with 19% rates in men's basketball and football. Some abuse flagged in other categories indicated that the posts were betting-related.
  
• 10% of abuse consisted of racist content. 
  
• 9% of abuse was homophobic/transphobic. 
  
• 6% of abuse, approximately 380 instances, was violent. 
  
• 80% of the abuse in the study was directed at March Madness student-athletes.
  
  • Women's basketball student-athletes received approximately three times more threats than men's basketball student-athletes.
    

I also see a larger number (2,000) attributed to betting-related harassing posts.  Perhaps that is for March Madness 2025.


While this abuse is certainly a topic for discussion, my original post was about the health aspect of sports gambling, the addictive behavior in some bettors, and the consequence it brings on the individuals, those around them, and the community (for instance, the need to create and promote more recognition of the situation and work towards helping those individuals.)

[M T]

I see that there is some consideration of banning gambling on what you mention, but I don't see evidence that this is the "biggest issue".
The best article I've found on the 2023-2024 study by the NCAA was posted in October 2024.
72,000 posts or comments (on athletes' social media) were flagged by software for review (out of 1.2M posts/comments).
The confirmed over 5,000 posts containing abusive, discriminatory or threatening content. 

The study revealed: 

• 18% of all abuse was sexual, making it the most prevalent type of abuse used to target male and female student-athletes. 
  
• 12% of all abuse was related to sports betting, with more than 740 instances. As betting markets increased, so did the prevalence of harassment, with 19% rates in men's basketball and football. Some abuse flagged in other categories indicated that the posts were betting-related.
  
• 10% of abuse consisted of racist content. 
  
• 9% of abuse was homophobic/transphobic. 
  
• 6% of abuse, approximately 380 instances, was violent. 
  
• 80% of the abuse in the study was directed at March Madness student-athletes.
  
  • Women's basketball student-athletes received approximately three times more threats than men's basketball student-athletes.
    

I also see a larger number (2,000) attributed to betting-related harassing posts.  Perhaps that is for March Madness 2025.


While this abuse is certainly a topic for discussion, my original post was about the health aspect of sports gambling, the addictive behavior in some bettors, and the consequence it brings on the individuals, those around them, and the community (for instance, the need to create and promote more recognition of the situation and work towards helping those individuals.)