The Cost of Visibility: How NIL & Prop Betting Are Exposing College Athletes to Growing Safety Threats

Student-athletes today face a growing safety crisis fueled by two converging forces: the rise of NIL monetization and the rapid expansion of legalized sports betting. While NIL has empowered athletes to build personal brands and capitalize financially, it has also dramatically increased their public exposure and corresponding vulnerability to harassment, coercion, and physical threats. At the same time, prop betting markets have incentivized direct harassment tied to individual performance, creating real-time pressure on student-athletes. Despite some NCAA initiatives and limited legislative responses, meaningful protections remain incomplete and dangerously inadequate.

1. The Double-Edged Sword of NIL: Visibility at a Cost

The NIL era has created substantial financial opportunities for student-athletes, but their heightened public profiles have made them targets both online and offline. NIL platforms such as Opendorse, which partners with over 100,000 athletes across NCAA, NJCAA, and NAIA schools, specifically encourage student-athletes to expand their digital presence to attract endorsement deals. [1] While this visibility drives brand value, it simultaneously opens athletes to harassment, stalking, and personal safety threats.

Former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne exemplifies this tension. With an NIL valuation estimated at $4.1 million, Dunne has faced repeated incidents of in-person disruptions, harassment, and stalking that led LSU coaches to implement private security protocols unprecedented for collegiate athletes, including security details and restricted bus access. [2] These challenges are not limited to a few high-profile athletes. Indiana basketball player Oumar Ballo reported receiving "death wishes, death threats and crazy messages" throughout the season, while Kansas State’s Coleman Hawkins described how persistent online harassment eroded his confidence and directly affected his performance. [3]

Though NIL monetization offers new financial benefits, these examples demonstrate that student-athletes often trade personal safety and privacy for visibility.

2. Legalized Sports Betting: A Catalyst for Direct Harassment

The 2018 Supreme Court decision invalidating the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”) opened the floodgates for legalized sports betting across the country. [4] As of 2025, sports betting is permitted in 38 states and Washington, D.C. The expansion of betting markets has directly exposed college athletes to harassment tied to individual performance.

According to the American Gaming Association, Americans wagered an estimated $3.1 billion on the 2025 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments—surpassing even Super Bowl betting totals. [5] NCAA President Charlie Baker and others have confirmed that the growth of sports betting has directly correlated with increased harassment and threats toward student-athletes.

A 2023–2024 pilot study by the NCAA and Signify Group demonstrated the scope of this problem. Using the AI-powered Threat Matrix platform, researchers analyzed over one million public social media posts across X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok during NCAA championships. They found that student-athletes—especially female athletes—were frequent targets of severe harassment, including sexual harassment, misogynistic insults, and betting-related threats. In some cases, athletes received over a thousand abusive messages within two weeks. [6]

Women’s basketball players, in particular, were targeted at rates nearly three times higher than their male counterparts. During the 2024 gymnastics championships, 92% of abusive posts targeting female athletes were traced to automated bot accounts, further complicating detection and response. [7]

The harassment extends well beyond public forums. Many athletes reported receiving private threats via direct messages that existing NCAA surveillance tools do not currently monitor. North Carolina's Armando Bacot, for example, received over 100 hostile, betting-related messages in a single evening after missing a performance milestone tied to popular prop bets. [8] Similar threats have been widely documented across major NCAA programs following missed free throws, turnovers, or fouls that affect gambling outcomes.

The mental health consequences of this harassment are significant. Many athletes report panic attacks, anxiety, depression, and, in extreme cases, suicidal ideation. [9] The convergence of betting-related harassment with existing performance pressures poses serious risks to athletes' long-term well-being.

3. NCAA Responses: Limited Progress

The NCAA has recognized the growing threat and initiated several responses:

• “Draw the Line” Campaign: A public messaging campaign urging fans not to harass players. [10]
• Threat Matrix Monitoring: Collaboration with Signify Group to monitor public social media posts. [11]
• Integrity Monitoring Services: Surveillance of over 13,000 NCAA events annually for suspicious betting activity. [12]
• EPIC Global Solutions Education: Gambling risk education programs for more than 100,000 student-athletes. [13]
• State-Level Policy Advocacy: Lobbying for state bans on college prop betting, including efforts in Ohio, Maryland, Vermont, and Louisiana. [14]

While these initiatives reflect progress, their limitations remain clear. The “Draw the Line” campaign lacks enforcement mechanisms, real-time takedown authority, or meaningful sanctions against offenders. Signify Group’s monitoring focuses solely on public content, leaving private communications—including the most serious threats—unaddressed. Law enforcement also struggles to prosecute harassers due to jurisdictional gaps and varying legal thresholds across states.

Emerging trends have also revealed harassment extending beyond athletes themselves. Family members increasingly become targets of abuse when personal family details are shared publicly through NIL-driven personal storytelling. As athletes' public narratives expand for marketing purposes, their families face growing risks of secondary victimization. [15]

4. Legislative Gaps and Federal Efforts

Despite the NCAA’s calls for stronger state regulation, existing legislative protections remain inconsistent. In 2023, the NCAA conducted a national review of state betting laws and proposed model legislation focused on protecting athletes from harassment, coercion, and gambling-related risks. Key recommendations included: [16]

• Mandatory harassment reporting hotlines;
• Temporary restrictions for individuals under investigation;
• Prohibited bettor lists for college athletics;
• Required anti-harassment monitoring and education;
• Comprehensive prop bet bans on individual athlete performance;
• Raising the minimum gambling age to 21;
• Stricter advertising standards and required disclosures; and
• Allocating sports betting revenue to fund safety, education, and mental health support.

However, implementation has been limited. As of June 2025, only 18 states and Washington, D.C. had adopted full bans on player-specific prop bets. The majority of jurisdictions still permit individualized betting, continuing to fuel harassment directed at athletes for their on-field performance.

Recognizing the slow pace of state-level reform, Congressman Michael Baumgartner introduced the PROTECT Act (H.R. 1552) in February 2025. [17] The bill would ban proposition bets on individual college athlete performances nationwide while permitting betting on game outcomes. Enforcement would fall under the Federal Trade Commission as an unfair business practice. Unlike broader measures such as the SAFE Bet Act, the PROTECT Act narrowly targets college prop betting to establish federal consistency. However, as of mid-2025, the bill remains in committee and has not advanced.

In parallel, the NCAA announced a significant extension of its partnership with Genius Sports through 2032. Under the new agreement, Genius Sports retains exclusive rights to distribute NCAA data to licensed sportsbooks during postseason tournaments while introducing additional integrity safeguards and AI-powered analytics through its GeniusIQ platform. [18] While these measures strengthen game integrity monitoring, they do little to directly address the harassment or physical safety threats athletes continue to experience.

5. Broader Safety Gaps: Digital, Physical, and Institutional Vulnerabilities

Beyond harassment tied to prop betting, the growing celebrity of college athletes exposes them to serious physical and digital safety threats. Unlike professional athletes who often have access to private security teams and digital risk consultants, most collegiate athletic programs lack even basic travel privacy protocols or cybersecurity safeguards. However, digital security experts routinely advise professional athletes on best practices that could be adapted and implemented by college programs to mitigate these growing threats. [19] Schools should consider:

• Reducing Digital Footprints: Employing data broker removal services to scrub personal information from public databases.
• Limiting Public Travel Disclosures: Avoiding public sharing of hotel or travel schedules.
• Real-Time AI Surveillance Expansion: Extending monitoring to private and encrypted platforms where harassment often occurs.
• Mandatory NIL Safety Advising: Requiring athletes to undergo digital privacy training as a condition of NIL participation.
• Centralized Harassment Reporting: Creating federal or interstate reporting hubs to facilitate faster law enforcement response.
• Family Protection Protocols: Developing institutional measures to monitor and respond to threats targeting athletes’ families.

Absent institutional mandates, student-athletes are left to navigate these threats largely on their own.

6. Conclusion: From Visibility to Vulnerability

The NIL and legalized sports betting eras have fundamentally reshaped the student-athlete experience, but at significant personal cost. Financial opportunity now comes hand-in-hand with real, ongoing threats to both physical and mental safety. Current NCAA efforts, while notable, remain reactive and limited in scope. State legislative action remains uneven, and federal efforts like the PROTECT Act have yet to advance meaningfully.

Addressing these challenges demands a coordinated national response. Protecting student-athletes will require comprehensive federal legislation, expanded institutional safety protocols, mandatory digital hygiene education, robust betting regulation, and active collaboration among schools, sportsbooks, law enforcement, and technology companies. Without structural change, college athletes will continue to bear the burden of a system that monetizes their visibility while failing to adequately safeguard their wellbeing.

[1] By the Numbers, Opendorse, https://opendorse.com/about/ (last visited May 13, 2025).

[2] Steven Corder, Livvy Dunne Brings Big Energy with New NIL Deal, Athlon Sports (Apr. 9, 2025), https://athlonsports.com/college/nil-daily/livvy-dunne-brings-big-energy-with-new-nil-deal; Alyssa Roenigk, LSU Ups Security After Fans of Olivia Dunne Disrupt Gymnastics Meet, ESPN (Jan. 12, 2023), https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/35433866/lsu-ups-security-fans-olivia-dunne-disrupt-gymnastics-meet.

[3] Kyle Boone, Online Threats, Harassment Affecting College Basketball Players in NIL Era: 'Just Leave Us Alone', CBS Sports (Mar. 14, 2025), https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/online-threats-harassment-affecting-college-basketball-players-in-nil-era-just-leave-us-alone/.

[4] Daniel Urie, Who Is the NCAA Calling Out? ‘Only a Loser Will Harass College Athletes’, PennLive (Mar. 29, 2025), https://www.pennlive.com/betting/2025/03/who-is-the-ncaa-calling-out-only-a-loser-will-harass-college-athletes.html. 

[5] John Yang, Satvi Sunkara & Veronica Vela, Sports Betting Surge Leads to Rise in Online Harassment of Elite College Athletes, PBS NewsHour (Apr. 6, 2025), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/sports-betting-surge-leads-to-rise-in-online-harassment-of-elite-college-athlete.

[6] NCAA, Threat Matrix Pilot Study Public Report (2024), at 9, https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/wagering/NCAAThreatMatrixPilotStudyPublicReport.pdf. 

[7] Carla Varriale-Barker & Courtney Dunn, The Rise of Online Abuse in Collegiate Sports: Lessons from the NCAA Threat Matrix Pilot Study, Segal McCambridge (Jan. 8, 2025), https://www.segalmccambridge.com/blog/the-rise-of-online-abuse-in-collegiate-sports-lessons-from-the-ncaa-threat-matrix-pilot-study/. 

[8] David Purdum, NCAA: 1 in 3 Star Athletes Receive Abuse, Threats by Bettors, ESPN (May 17, 2024), https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/40166862/ncaa-1-3-star-athletes-receive-abuse-threats-bettors. 

[9] Saquandra Heath, ‘Don’t Be a Loser’: NCAA Launches Sports Betting Anti-Harassment Video, NCAA.org (Mar. 18, 2025), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/3/18/media-center-don-t-be-a-loser-ncaa-launches-sports-betting-anti-harassment-video.aspx.

[10] Id.

[11] Varriale-Barker & Dunn, supra note 10.

[12] Corbin McGuire, As Sports Wagering Grows, NCAA Continues Providing Education, Integrity Services and Research, NCAA.org (May 16, 2023), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/5/16/media-center-as-sports-wagering-grows-ncaa-continues-providing-education-integrity-services-and-research.aspx.

[13] Heath, supra note 14.

[14] Id.

[15] Varriale-Barker & Dunn, supra note 10.

[16] NCAA, NCAA to Begin Advocating for Updated Sports Betting Laws in State Legislatures (Oct.?4, 2023), https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/10/4/media-center-ncaa-to-begin-advocating-for-updated-sports-betting-laws-in-state-legislatures.aspx. 

[17] H.R.?1552, 119th Cong. (2025) (PROTECT Act), govtrack.us, https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/119/hr1552.

[18]  Genius Sports Ltd. & Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, NCAA and Genius Sports Expand Partnership Through 2032 (Apr.?25,?2025), available at https://investors.geniussports.com/news/news-details/2025/NCAA-and-Genius-Sports-Expand-Partnership-Through-2032/default.aspx.

[19] Cybercrime in Sports; How to Double?Team Against Digital Thieves,?Sports Bus. J. (Apr.?7,?2025), https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/04/07/cybercrime-in-sports-how-to-double-team-against-digital-thieves/.