The University of New Mexico's men's basketball team defeated Wyoming 76-75 on Dec. 31, improving to a perfect 14-0 on the season. The Lobos were thrilled with their victory, but Assistant Athletic Director of Communications Frank Mercogliano noticed an unusual sentiment in a few post-game tweets directed at the official team Twitter account.
A couple of users called out senior forward Josiah Allick for missing two late free throws, despite finishing with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Mercogliano quickly figured out the angry posters were frustrated gamblers, as the Lobos won but didn't cover as a 1.5-point favorite.'
@BarstoolBigCat @PicksCentral New Mexico -1.5 …#BadBeat pic.twitter.com/xb4TJ7IaES
— Danny (@mccartin_dan21) December 31, 2022
“There were a few folks on our official account calling the kid a bum and a waste, and [he] should go to Division II,” Mercogliano said. “You sort of laugh at it. And then the administrator in me looks at it and goes delete, delete, delete.”
A disturbing trend
New Mexico isn't the only college basketball team to recently experience this issue. Hofstra's associate director for athletic communications, Stephen Gorchov, recently tweeted that he's used to seeing angry social media posts after Hofstra's men's basketball team fails to cover a spread.'
“You've never really managed the social media accounts of a sports team until you've been attacked by gamblers,” Gorchov posted on Jan. 16, following a Hofstra loss. “Today was one of the worst in my time with men's basketball – and we've all had our fair share. Horrible people.”
James Madison University Director of Communications Jason Krech'tweeted a similar thought in mid-January. He believes some users created burner accounts just to trash JMU players.'
Brett Hein, the sports editor of the , covers Weber State University’s athletic programs. Hein says he’s noticed an uptick in angry gamblers tweeting at official team accounts over the last few seasons. He says it’s easy to tell when it’s a gambler tweeting, as their language is usually more broad. They might call a team or player “trash” for one specific game rather than having a gripe about the team’s long-term outlook like an actual fan might.
“They’re clearly following games because of bets, not really to enjoy the sport,” Hein told.
Dayton men's basketball head coach Anthony Grant even used a recent postgame press conference to address the issue.'
“There's some laws that have recently been enacted that, to me, it could really change the landscape of what college sports is all about,” Grant said, shortly after Ohio's legal sports betting launch on Jan. 1. “And when we have people that make it about themselves and attack kids because of their own agenda, it sickens me.”
The Flyers' team Twitter account had numerous angry mentions from bettors after the Flyers blew a double-digit lead in a January home loss to Virginia Commonwealth University. Some players were even tagged in a few of the hateful tweets after the defeat.'
Dayton won yesterday, but head coach Anthony Grant's postgame presser focused mostly on angry gamblers directing hate at his players, rather than his team's win over Davidson. https://t.co/aZV1FuX5Pb
— Bennett Conlin (@BennettConlin) January 18, 2023
Collegiate athletes aren't the only ones dealing with online hate from gamblers. Professional athletes are also concerned about receiving threats from bettors.'
Mass Live reported that The Players' Association, a collective representing several professional sports leagues including the NFL, NBA, and MLB, asked the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to address threats from bettors in its regulations. Players want possible protections from threats brought on by gamblers.
The MGC hopes to address those concerns in the near future, as retail sports betting went live in the state at the end of January. A mobile sports betting launch is expected in March.