NCAA to Participate in Bad Actor Program
Jesse M. Cox Published 03/11/2026
The NCAA is formulating a plan to deal with bad actors, and no, that doesn't mean Rob Schneider is planning to make a sequel to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. What we're talking about is an NCAA plan to participate in the Bad Actor program, which helps to identify harassing behavior from sports bettors. NCAA officials will collaborate with Signify, Integrity Compliance 360, and other key stakeholders to aggressively pursue and report identified abusers as part of monitoring across NCAA Championships.
It's all part of the NCAA's ongoing commitment to protecting the well-being of college sports participants and protecting them from unruly, frustrated sports bettors.
How the Bad Actor Program works
The Bad Actor Program aims to identify and address abusive, threatening, and harassing behavior directed at athletes, coaches, and officials through social media and other online platforms. IC360 and Signify Group are responsible for the creation of the program. Fanatics Sportsbook is the first sportsbook to partner with the program and take on a leading role.
The Bad Actor program combines social media monitoring and investigative capabilities. It is designed to identify individuals responsible for abusive online behavior. Through this gathering of data, the program is able to provide participating organizations with information that can support accountability measures. That can include banning individuals from participating in betting platforms.
The NCAA is the first sports organization to participate in the Bad Actor program
The NCAA is the first major sports organization to get on board full-time with the Bad Actor Program. Originally, the NCAA formed a collaboration with Signify and IC360 on the Bad Actor Program in 2023. That was when the Association teamed up with Signify Group to monitor online abuse during NCAA Championships.
“Athlete harassment has no place in college sports,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a press release. “The NCAA is committed to working with stakeholders across the sports betting ecosystem to eradicate this horrific behavior that plagues sports far too often.
"That is why the NCAA is the first sport governing body to participate in the Bad Actor Program. The NCAA has led efforts to better understand and address online harassment, and we are proud to support new tools that increase accountability for those who target student-athletes, coaches, and officials.”
The NCAA also collaborates with e-wallet Venmo to identify and disrupt betting-related threats and harassment directed at student-athletes on the platform. This includes a dedicated reporting hotline, student-athlete safety best practices guide, account support, and broader user education.
NCAA studies reveal the inherent danger that comes from athlete harassment related to sports betting
The first comprehensive analyses of the scope of harassment of college sports participants took place in 2024. Findings identified more than 5,000 verified abusive, discriminatory, or threatening social media posts directed at championship participants.
Sports betting was directly linked to 12% of all verified abuse. That figure increased to 19% in men’s basketball. One student-athlete received more than 1,400 abusive messages in less than two weeks.
Eighty percent of all verified abuse identified in the study was directed at March Madness participants. Women’s basketball student-athletes received approximately three times more threats than men’s basketball student-athletes.
The NCAA’s 2025 GOALS study separately found that 51% of Division I men’s basketball student-athletes reported receiving social media abuse tied to their athletics performance. Additionally, 46% reported receiving negative or threatening messages from someone who had bet on their game.
“Online harassment monitoring and student-athlete surveys have provided crucial data on the volume, nature, and sources of online abuse — particularly harassment tied to sports betting activity," Clint Hangebrauck, NCAA managing director of enterprise risk management, said in a statement.
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