Of the 12,000 social media posts deemed abusive towards tennis players in 2024, 48% were written by angry gamblers, according to a study by AI service Threat Matrix.
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According to the AI service Threat Matrix, in 2024, 48% of the 12,000 social media posts deemed abusive towards tennis players were written by angry gamblers. The AI-driven detection system inspected 2.47 million posts during the investigation, which ran from January to October this year.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), and United States Tennis Association (USTA) launched the Threat Matrix service in late 2023. This service targets the following social media posts: Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube.
The Threat Matrix system works in 39 languages and covers 7,739 players competing in ITF World Tennis Tour tournaments and an additional 563 players in WTA tournaments. Players use the threat matrix not only as referees, but also when competing in the main and qualifying rounds of the US Open and Wimbledon.
Victoria Azarenka, former world number one and member of the WTA Players Council, commented:
“It was imperative for WTA and these partner organizations to take meaningful steps to filter, block and report hateful and harmful comments. No one should have to endure it.”
15 accounts violate criminal standards
Threat Matrix detected 12,000 abusive posts and comments that violated social media community guidelines, and social media platforms were notified of these violations. Our procedures against abusive content typically involve removing content from the platform and potentially deleting users’ entire accounts if they cross critical thresholds.
However, the service went beyond this in some posts, with 15 accounts violating criminal standards. In these cases, Threat Matrix passed the abuse information to national law enforcement agencies to take action.
Jonathan Hirschler, CEO of Signify Group, which operates Threat Matrix, said: “We have helped close numerous fraudulent accounts and identified clear sources of fraudulent activity, including a large number of angry gamblers. I’m very happy that I was able to do it.”
Tennis is one of the many sports facing gambling addiction
Tennis isn’t the only sport facing issues with player abuse, with the NCAA releasing a harassment analysis also conducted by Signify Group in October. The investigation found 743 abusive and threatening messages against NCAA athletes related to sports betting.
According to the study, 73% of comments targeted March Madness, and women received 59% more abusive content than men. The study covered 3,000 athletes, 500 coaches, 200 officials, and 160 college sports programs.
The study covered the College Football Playoff, the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments, the College World Series in baseball and softball, and the gymnastics and volleyball championships.
As such, many states like Wyoming are considering banning player prop bets to take the pressure off these young athletes. In a meeting with the Wyoming Gaming Commission, Austin Meo, NCAA assistant director for government relations, told the commission that reducing harassment of student-athletes is “a big issue for us.”
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