Study shows less online abuse of athletes during March Madness

Field Level Media|published: Tue 10th June, 20:16 2025

Mar 27, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; A view of March Madness signage and the court before an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Brigham Young Cougars at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The NCAA recently released a study that indicated a decrease in social media abuse targeting student-athletes, including from sports bettors, during March Madness.

According to the study, athletes were targeted in 15 percent of March Madness-related abusive posts and comments flagged by data science firm Signify Group during the 2025 men's and women's tournaments. That was a significant drop from the previous year's tournaments, when 42 percent of March Madness-spawned abusive posts and comments were directed at student-athletes.

Per the NCAA's report, Signify Group gleaned this year's data by using its "Threat Matrix" technology to monitor the social-media accounts of 2,042 players, 346 coaches, 136 teams and 269 game officials and selection committee members.

More than 1 million posts and comments directed at these groups on X, TikTok and Instagram were logged and analyzed by Signify's artificial intelligence. That led to 54,096 posts and comments being flagged for potential abuse or threat. Of those, Signify's human analysts confirmed 3,161 as "abusive or threatening." Signify investigated 103 social media accounts for their malicious activity and referred 10 of them to law enforcement.

"By supporting the NCAA in demonstrating that abusers can be identified and will be reported to law enforcement -- where criminal thresholds are broken -- it is possible to see a deterrent effect in play," Jonathan Hirshler, Signify Group's CEO, said in a statement.

Other findings from the study: Abuse stemming from sports bettors decreased by 23 percent, all abuse directed at those on the women's March Madness side dropped approximately 83 percent and all abuse directed at those on the men's side increased by 140 percent.

While the 140 percent increase in men's tournament total abuse and the significant drop in abuse directed at student-athletes overall might not appear to jibe, the difference is in the sharp increase of this year's abuse being directed at adults -- such as coaches and the NCAA Tournament selection committee chaired by North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham.

--Field Level Media