Auburn Tigers quarterback Payton Thorne has claimed that disgruntled bettors are demanding their money back after backing his team.
Thorne threw four interceptions in the Auburn, Alabama team’s 21-14 loss to the California Golden Bears on Saturday. Following the game, Thorne appeared on a Birmingham talk show and addressed criticism aimed at him.
The Next Round took to X with a clip from its show in which Thorne stated bettors were messaging him on Venmo with the intent of receiving money from the Illinois-born quarterback:
Thorne made light of the Venmo requests, stating: “It’s funny. When they lose money, they want their money back. But when they win money on a parlay, no one’s ever sent me any of the money.”
While the former Michigan State Spartans QB chose to see the funny side, the NCAA, like the MLB and other major league bodies, is taking these betting-related threats seriously. An example is the related research being done by NCCA partner and AI firm, Signify.
ESPN on Tuesday cited a recent Signify AI study that found “1-in-3 high-profile college athletes receive messages from individuals with a betting interest.” The NCAA has gone as far as requesting its members ban sportsbooks from taking prop bets on college athletes, with Ohio, Louisiana, Maryland, and Vermont heeding the request and enforcing a ban.
While the Auburn quarterback might be the first college football star to share his Venmo experience, pro athletes are no strangers to the extortion attempts. Former NCAA men’s golf champion and PGA star Max Homa recently told The Washington Post how bettors requested money from him via Venmo multiple times per week. The tactic, Homa said, “gets old.”