The NCAA found that 46% of the 104 men’s basketball respondents reported abuse tied to betting losses. The corresponding shares were 21% among Football Bowl Subdivision football players, 13% among Football Championship Subdivision players, 8% among baseball players and 6% among soccer players.

The survey was conducted online and participation was voluntary, so the results are not a representative count of all Division I athletes. The NCAA invited nearly 56,000 athletes to take part; 7,493 students from 154 schools responded. The sample sizes varied widely by sport, including 723 FBS football players and 880 FCS football players.

The survey also leaves the meaning of “harassment” to respondents. Lydia Bell, the NCAA’s managing director of research, said athletes are asked whether they have “faced abuse related to someone around sports betting,” with the definition left to each student. Temple University political science professor David Nickerson said that approach may better reflect athletes’ own experiences than a narrow formal definition.

The men’s basketball figure was higher than a related result in the previous year’s survey, when 36% of players who were sophomores or older said they had received negative or threatening messages from someone who bet on their game. The questions differed, however, so the figures are not a direct year-over-year comparison.

Nickerson cautioned that the makeup of the respondents could shape the results. The Mountain West accounted for 285 survey responses, compared with 137 from the Southeastern Conference. He also noted that answers were collected from Feb. 23 to March 2, when basketball players may have felt under more scrutiny than football players, whose season had ended months earlier.

Across the survey, men reported betting-related abuse more often than women. Thirteen percent of male athletes said they had been abused by fans, compared with 5% of female athletes. Among athletes who directly experienced betting-related abuse, 14% reported increased stress, anxiety or burnout; 18% said the abuse reduced their enjoyment of playing. Others reported reduced concentration, confidence or performance.

The NCAA began its Student-Athlete Needs, Aspirations and Perspectives survey in fall 2025 to track athlete experiences, including harassment connected to sports betting. NCAA President Charlie Baker has said the organization monitors social media during major championships and alerts platforms to abusive content directed at players, coaches and officials.