Sports betting has swept the country by storm and there’s arguably no bigger event for the industry than the NCAA Tournament. But before the 2025 edition, the NCAA is sending a message to bettors who abuse college athletes on social media.
With the 2025 NCAA Tournament beginning this week, the NCAA is launching a new “Draw the Line” public service announcement about sports betting.
The theme is “Don’t be a loser” and it urges fans and bettors to not harass or abuse athletes on social media because of a lost bet.
“There’s losing and then there’s being a loser. Gametime comes with enough pressure. Way too often, people are betting on sports, losing, and taking it out on the athletes. Only a loser would harass college athletes after losing a bet, but it happens almost every day. Root for your team, get crazy when the buzzer sounds, but don’t harass anyone because you lost a bet. It’s time we draw the line and put an end to the abuse,” the ad states.
According to the NCAA, the ad campaign will air during the the men’s and women’s tournaments and is just one of several initiatives the organization has put in place to raise awareness over what is an increasingly troubling issue.
The NCAA has launched a new video to air throughout the men’s and women’s March Madness tournament broadcasts, as well as online, as part of the Draw the Line campaign. The new spot, titled “Don’t Be a Loser,” calls attention to the alarming prevalence of abuse and harassment student-athletes face from angry fans who lost a bet.
The new addition to the Draw the Line campaign is one of several efforts underway at the NCAA to respond to the rise of sports betting.
The NCAA references a report from the American Gaming Association that says an estimated $3.1 billion will be bet during this year’s tournaments. It also references the increasingly untenable reality facing a huge chunk of college athletes that are receiving abuse and harassment because of sports betting on a regular basis. An NCAA study found that 1 in 3 high profile college athletes received harassment related to betting.
Some states have already taken steps to lessen the impact of sports betting on college athletes, banning individual player props. That’s not only to prevent susceptible college athletes from possibly influencing the integrity of games, but also to protect the mental health of athletes who would be opened up to online abuse.
Hopefully these ads are able to resonate so that college athletes and anyone else don’t have to suffer from online abuse over sports betting.
