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Though finals are over for most universities across the US, some college athletes are still actively playing through the winter break. That includes Missouri college men’s and women’s basketball teams and Mizzou and Missouri State football players preparing to play in bowl games.
The landscape for college athletes in the state has changed with the addition of Missouri sports betting, which commenced Dec. 1.
Some student-athletes are concerned about the added pressure that comes when there’s money riding on their performances.
Former Kansas player discusses harassment he received
Former University of Kansas men’s basketball player Zeke Mayo, in a report from KCTV that ran Dec. 1, talked about the online harassment he received – including troubling racist comments and threats of violence – in the wake of a poor performance. He suspects they came from angry gamblers who had lost money betting on his game.
“I went straight home and like locked myself in a room for a very long time. I didn’t want to speak to anybody. I turned my phone off. It was a very difficult day … you start to realize, like, okay, these people could be gamblers. They lost a lot of money.”
The report also claimed that some angry bettors go as far as to track down players via their Venmo accounts and make requests for payment, ostensibly for the money they lost betting on those players to perform better than they did.
The story notes that while Missouri doesn’t allow prop bets on Missouri college players, they are legal in other states, including in Kansas, where Mayo’s Jayhawks remain a perennial power.
Pressure to perform rises with sports wagering
Some Missouri State women’s basketball players – though not under as intensive microscope – report some concerns over sports wagering being legal in the state.
Speaking to Springfield TV station, KY3, junior Kaemyn Bekemeier said sports wagering simply adds more pressure to perform well on the court.
“There’s pressure from yourself, which has always kind of been the highest. So, just adding that money aspect onto it, I feel like (it) can be a little bit more pressure.”
The school’s athletic director, Patrick Ransdell, noted that the ability for people to reach student-athletes via social media is a concern. He said the school takes steps, including offering counseling, to address the issue.
In the KCTV story, Clint Hangebrauck, the NCAA’s managing director of enterprise risk management, expressed similar concerns.
“We’re seeing more harassment of student-athletes, coaches, and officials from people who have a betting interest … That really puts a target on the back of student-athletes to receive abuse and harassment from angry bettors.”
The story also made clear the Missouri Gaming Commission doesn’t take harassment of athletes lightly. Commissioner Jan Zimmerman said laws are in place to protect athletes.
“It’s my hope that any student-athlete, if they are being threatened or harassed, would bring that to someone’s attention because there are law enforcement remedies for those kinds of things.”
Pro athletes not immune from bettors’ angst
And it’s not just college athletes who experience blowback from bettors. In the KCTV story, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he’s heard fans discuss their betting outcomes.
“More than anything to me, it gets weird sometimes when you have fans talking about it. You’re just trying to go out there and live your life and play the game.”
The Chiefs have disappointed most bettors in Missouri, who had hopes they’d return to the playoffs. Unfortunately, KC’s 16-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday ensured they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.
Yet the team has still remained popular with Missouri bettors during this unfortunate season.
