Written by Reilly Murphy
Sports Culture
The culture of sports as we know it, has a much different meaning now than it once did even ten years ago. Gone are the days where kids were sitting on the couch watching Sportscenter each morning, and now we live in an era of scrolling through our favorite social media platforms.
With the power of social media, fans have access to both professional and student-athletes like never before. In a study conducted by the NCAA, one of every three student-athletes, during the men’s and women’s 2024 March Madness tournaments, experienced some kind of abuse on social media as a result of sports betting. By the end of the tournaments over 80% of players were involved (NCAA Media Center, 2024).
Youth in the Spotlight
In class, we’ve discussed the ethics behind young children being exposed on social media. While young adults, major companies are reaching out to athletes who have little experience of being in the spotlight.
In order to ensure good mental health and safety habits, student-athletes should be required to take an education course prior to signing endorsement deals. These should be provided by the university in order to teach healthy social media practices and handling harassment.
Betting Ethically
Since May 14, 2018, sports betting became legal in the United States (Purdum, 2018). College sports events have been centerpieces of the betting industry. Most recently, more than $3 billion in bets were placed during the 2025 men’s and women’s NCAA March Madness tournaments (Yang et al, 2025). With big money on the line of fans watching, came tremendous pressure for those in the Big Dance.
Amongst the teams featured in the 2025 March Madness tournament, was St. John’s. Led by their star player RJ Lewis Jr., the Red Storm clinched the number-two seed in the tournament following their Big East Championship victory.
A devastated RJ Lewis Jr. (middle), sits on the bench following being benched during the Round of 32. Credit: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
However for Lewis and St. John’s teammates, the Red Storm’s run at a national championship was cut short with a loss in the Round of 32. The gut wrenching loss, Lewis Jr. was met with an overwhelming amount of harassment from angry fans and bettors. Taking action, Lewis deleted instagram.
Sports fans are known to be passionate and show their emotions for their professional teams, but even more so at the collegiate level. The model followed by collegiate and professional athletics are becoming very similar. Should college athletes be held to the similar playing standards as their counterparts?
While collegiate athletes are earning money, the age difference of these athletes is much younger than professional athletes. These are young adults who are still working towards their degree in addition to playing their sport. It becomes unfair that people are able to place bets and add additional stress while they are still maturing as humans. In order to prevent this, betting on college athletics should be illegal.
Fan vs. Obsession
The landscape continued to shape itself in July 2021, with student-athletes being allowed to profit off their Name, Image and Likeness (NIL). This has led to collegiate athletes to become household names on the athletic playing surface, and through mainstream media (NCAA, 2025).
Livvy Dunne, looks off into the distance prior to competition in Utah.Credit: Alex Goodlet /Getty Images
There has since been an emergence of women in college sports becoming recognizable faces. Women’s basketball stars Paige Bueckers and Caitlin, and gymnast Olivia Dunne have voiced publicly their concerns of being harassed. Dunne, now a graduate of Louisiana State University, recently took TikTok of recent harassment at airports across the country.
With access to various social media platforms, student-athletes are becoming more vulnerable to harassment. Despite this occurrence, young athletes continue to push content to make an extra dollar. While some would argue that kids are at fault, billion dollar companies are offering massive deals to these student-athletes for them to profit from.
Conclusion
The landscape of collegiate athletes has moved on from how we once knew it. Gone are the days of amateurism, and the era student-athletes being able to make a penny have arrived. While the “Don’t Be a Loser,” campaign is a good start, the NCAA should consider additional resources and changes to protect student-athletes.
In order to ensure the safety of student-athletes, the NCAA should require NIL informational courses and guidance prior to working with companies. Additionally, sports betting on collegiate athletic events should be considered illegal. Big name companies should also consider the ethical responsibilities of working student-athletes.