NCAA and Venmo forge alliance following John Mateer's incident at Oklahoma
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced a partnership with digital payment platform Venmo, aiming to protect student athletes from potential harassment.
The partnership, focused on combating harassment within the collegiate sports community, will involve the NCAA's compliance and student-athlete welfare offices working closely with Venmo to enhance online payment security and reduce harassment from bettors and fraudsters.
NCAA President Charlie Baker expressed his hope that more states will pass similar laws to protect student athletes, and he called for fans to do better regarding online harassment. He applauded Venmo for taking action against such behaviour.
The collaboration will provide a dedicated hotline for collegiate athletes to report abuse and harassment, and it will involve increased monitoring to combat such incidents. Venmo will also offer user education on account security as part of the partnership.
The partnership is not limited to college football players. It aims to protect all student athletes across various sports. This move comes after an incident involving Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer, where some of his Venmo payments went viral, potentially suggesting he had been involved in betting on college football games. However, John Mateer claims the viral Venmo payments were part of an inside joke with his friends, and the incident does not appear to be related to the NCAA and Venmo partnership.
Baker expressed his optimism about the partnership, stating, "This is a significant step forward in our ongoing efforts to ensure the well-being of our student-athletes. We are grateful for Venmo's commitment to this cause and hope that more social media companies and online platforms will take similar actions."
The NCAA-Venmo partnership is designed to reduce the number of sports bettors contacting student athletes, thereby creating a safer and more secure environment for all involved in collegiate sports.
