NCAA joins Bad Actor Program to combat player harassment
The NCAA has become the first sports governing body to publicly join the Bad Actor Program, an initiative designed to identify individuals responsible for threatening or harassing athletes, coaches and officials.
Announced on October 29, the partnership brings together the NCAA, Integrity Compliance 360 and Signify Group to monitor abusive behaviour across social media and other online platforms.
Fanatics Sportsbook was the first betting operator in the USA to participate in the program.
Information collected through monitoring and investigations can be shared with participating organisations, potentially resulting in offenders being banned from betting sites.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said the organisation was committed to working with the US gambling industry to address harassment directed at student-athletes.
“Athlete harassment has no place in college sports,” Baker said.
The initiative follows research identifying more than 5,000 verified abusive, discriminatory or threatening social media posts directed at NCAA championship participants.
Sports betting was directly linked to 12% of verified abuse, increasing to 19% in men’s basketball.
A separate NCAA study found that 46% of Division I men’s basketball players had received negative or threatening messages from individuals who had bet on their games.
The NCAA said the partnership would strengthen existing monitoring and reporting arrangements while improving accountability across the sports betting industry.
