NCAA investigation reveals widespread online abuse of athletes and coaches

The NCAA has partnered with Signify Group to investigate online harassment of college student-athletes, and the organization released its first online harassment study on Thursday.

NCAA partnered with Signify Group using their Threat Matrix service, powered by artificial intelligence

The NCAA released the full summary analysis of the Division I Championship Pilot Study, which monitored public comments focused on the online profiles of student-athletes, coaches and officials who participated in seven NCAA Championships and the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Signify Group’s analysts reviewed more than 72,000 messages flagged by their AI-based algorithm from a broader data set. Approximately 1.3 million posts/comments targeted the social media profiles of student-athletes, coaches and officials participating in the events.

From the messages analyzed, the team verified more than 5,000 messages that contained offensive, discriminatory or threatening content. These posts have been reported to social media platforms for action.

NCAA investigation revealed seven key points:

• 18% of all abuse was sexual, making it the most common form of abuse targeting male and female student-athletes.
• 12% of all abuse was related to sports betting, with more than 740 cases. As betting markets expanded, so did the prevalence of harassment, with a rate of 19% in men’s basketball and football. Some abuses flagged in other categories indicated that the messages were related to betting.
• 10% of the abuse consisted of racist content.
• 9% of the abuse was homophobic/transphobic.
• 6% of abuse, about 380 cases, was violent.
• 80% of the abuse in the study was against March Madness student-athletes.
• Female basketball student-athletes received approximately three times more threats than male basketball student-athletes.

“I have heard too many student-athletes talk about offensive messages they have received. … For the first time, we now have evidence of the scale at which this is happening. It is incredibly alarming and completely unacceptable,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker.

“Fans need to do a better job, and social media companies need to do more to identify and remove this content. … We all need reminders about using social media responsibly. Student-athletes come to college hoping to achieve their athletic and academic dreams. … Our job at the NCAA is to provide them with the most satisfying experience possible. We will exhaust all options to reduce the harassment and vitriol that student-athletes too often face today.”

More than 540 offensive betting messages were directed at men’s and women’s basketball students and game officials

In December, the NCAA announced it had engaged Signify Group to provide its Threat Matrix service to support the association in studying and responding to online abuse and threats directed at NCAA championship participants, including student-athletes, coaches, officials and committee members.

This initiative was created to promote the mental health and well-being of the college sports community. The Threat Matrix services function through data collection, analysis, and action.

A preliminary set of data trends was released in May, detailing some of the abuse seen during March Madness. The set of data trends was studied in the Division I men’s and women’s basketball championships.

More importantly, more than 540 abusive betting messages were directed at men’s and women’s basketball students and game officials. Some messages were death threats.

“College athletics ignites passion and creates enthusiastic fan bases who cheer on our student-athletes,” said Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King. “We welcome the positive support and dedication, but will not tolerate any form of abuse that threatens the mental health and well-being of student-athletes.

“There is absolutely no place for harassment or discrimination of any kind in college sports. 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 oversaw women’s volleyball, softball, gymnastics, baseball and the College Football Playoff National Championship

In addition to Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, Signify Group oversaw other championships in the division: Women’s Volleyball, Football Championships, Softball and Baseball. The study also included the Women’s National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships and the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In total, the study tracked the accounts of 3,164 student-athletes, 489 coaches, 197 game officials, 165 teams and 12 official NCAA channels. This resulted in findings of 16 categories of online abuse and threats across all championships.

“This initiative has been a fascinating learning exercise,” said Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify Group. “Our Threat Matrix service is used across global sports and includes some of the world’s leading athletes. Our analysts were therefore surprised to see student-athletes receiving volumes of targeted abuse.

“This data supports the NCAA’s admirable work in this area, as these student-athletes (along with coaches and officials) clearly need support.”

Participants in the men’s and women’s March Madness suffered the most abuse

Men’s and women’s March Madness participants (student-athletes, coaches and officials) suffered the most abuse. According to the study, 80% of the nearly 4,000 verified offensive messages were posted during the tournaments.

Additionally, at the National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Championships, 92% of flagged sexual messages were sent from bot accounts that encouraged online users to access sexual content.

Signify Group reported this activity to the social platform, which subsequently suspended the bot accounts. The inappropriate comments have been removed from the team and student gymnastics channels.

Moreover, bots were not the only accounts publishing sexual content and abuse. Homophobia and transphobia were consistent issues in championships, ranging from 4.33% in baseball to 22% in women’s volleyball.

“Online abuse of student-athletes is a significant issue that negatively impacts young athletes’ experience in sports, including intercollegiate athletics,” said Meredith Page, vice chair of the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

“The DI SAAC calls on those in positions of influence to take active steps to provide better protection for our young adults.”

Most incidents of racial abuse occurred during March Madness, in both men’s and women’s tournaments

Racism was another prominent category of abuse (10%). Online racist abuse and threats were observed at every championship in the study, with the exception of FCS football. Most incidents of racial abuse occurred during March Madness, in both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

Additionally, 12% of the abuse discovered was related to sports betting, based on the context of the language used in the messages. However, the analysis shows that much of the abuse was influenced by sports betting behavior.

The NCAA recently implemented a series of reforms that will provide more benefits to student-athletes, including expanded mental health support. Beginning August 1, all schools with Division I athletic programs must provide mental health and mental health services in accordance with the NCAA’s Mental Health Best Practices.

Of course, the NCAA also advocates for social media platforms to identify and remove offensive content directed at student-athletes.

“This groundbreaking study will help the association analyze and assess risk to create effective solutions and guardrails to protect student-athletes from unlawful threats and harm,” said Clint Hangebrauck, general manager of Enterprise Risk Management at the NCAA.

“The NCAA will continue to work with Signify, campus leaders, social platforms, law enforcement, gambling companies and government officials to combat this heinous behavior and drive change for college sports and society.”

You can read the full twenty-page report here.