WTA report reveals shocking scale of online abuse: 40% of abuse linked to angry gamblers

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and International Tennis Federation (ITF) have revealed disturbing new figures highlighting the extent of online abuse targeting professional tennis players, with angry gamblers responsible for a staggering 40% of all detected abuse.

The findings, published in the first full-year report from the Threat Matrix monitoring service, shed light on the growing hostility faced by players across social media platforms.

The AI-powered system, developed by the Signify Group, tracked 1.6 million posts and comments from January to December 2024, ultimately verifying around 8,000 as abusive, violent, or threatening.

Of the 4,200 abusive accounts identified, 97 prolific users were responsible for nearly a quarter (23%) of all harmful messages. Most shockingly, just five players received 26% of all abuse detected.

A major factor fueling this wave of online abuse is gambling. Frustrated bettors, angry over their losses, are turning to social media to target players with direct attacks. In fact, 10 accounts, mostly linked to gambling-related anger, were responsible for 12 percent of all abusive messages. One of these accounts even posted more than 260 abusive comments on its own.

Fifteen of the most extreme and threatening cases have been escalated to law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and national authorities, while abusers have been banned from attending events. Threat Matrix has also shared details of 39 of the worst offenders with event organisers and betting companies for further action.

Direct threats via DMs, emails, and letters are also on the rise. In 2024, 28 players submitted 56 reports of direct abuse to Threat Matrix - 77% of which were linked to gambling-related frustration. These private messages, unlike public posts, often aim to cause direct emotional distress and are becoming increasingly frequent as awareness of the service grows.

Jessica Pegula, a member of the WTA Players’ Council, praised the efforts but stressed that the burden should not lie solely on tennis authorities. "Online abuse is unacceptable, and something that no player should have to endure... It’s time for the gambling industry and social media companies to tackle the problem at its source.".

"Protecting players and the wider tennis family from vile online threat and abuse is a key priority for us," a spokesperson for the WTA and ITF said. "Given the clear evidence... we are calling for a constructive dialogue with the gambling industry to help tackle this issue.".

The WTA and ITF are now expanding the Threat Matrix service to include real-time social media moderation, allowing abusive posts to be hidden or removed automatically from official and player channels. This new feature is expected to launch in the coming weeks.

Signify CEO Jonathan Hirshler noted that while the volume of abuse is disturbing, its concentration among a small number of repeat offenders presents an opportunity: "This unique dataset, covering all players across international tennis tours and Grand Slams, illustrates that a relatively small number of accounts are responsible for a significant proportion of prolific abuse and trolling."

He added by stating, "While this is deeply distressing for the athletes targeted, it means that we are able to be even more focused working with the platforms to ensure successful take down, support the tennis bodies to drive law enforcement intervention for the most egregious accounts and work with event security teams to ensure prolific abusers are unable to attend tournaments. This action-orientated approach underpins the Threat Matrix service.".

As professional tennis continues to attract global audiences and betting interest, the growing threat of online abuse remains a major concern. The report ends with a clear message: protecting players from harm, both on and off the court, must be a shared responsibility between governing bodies, social media platforms, law enforcement, and the gambling industry.