Congressman Tonko Turns to Saints for Insight

U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko invited Siena coaches, athletes and administrators to roundtable discussion on the growing impact of online sports betting on college athletics.

Tonko was seeking first-hand input about the negative effects of the sports betting boom, including a rise in online abuse directed at athletes by disgruntled bettors. The conversation, held October 17 in the MAC, ties into Rep. Tonko's work on the recently introduced SAFE Bet Act, which he co-sponsored with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. The two legislators announced the bill last month with a news conference at the U.S. Capitol. (ESPN coverage here.)

The landmark legislation aims to establish nationwide consumer protections and public health standards for the mobile sports gaming industry. A key provision of the Act includes a nationwide ban on "prop bets" involving college athletes, a measure intended to reduce the harmful online abuse targeting student-athletes.

"The goal here is to prevent harm," said Tonko. "Sports gambling has taken off like wildfire, with few guardrails to protect consumers and athletes. Tell me what I need to know about how this issue impacts you."

Jennifer McClintock '25, a cross-country and track runner, as well as president of Siena's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, said she was friends with another student-athlete who received so many abusive messages that he asked for her help sifting through them.

"By the end of the season, he had to turn off all social media because people were sending him messages before and after games," McClintock said. "Like, 'If you don't go out and score 20 points tonight then I'm going to lose my bet, so this is all on you. I'm putting money on the line because of you.'"

Men's basketball Coach Gerry McNamara and women's basketball Coach Terry Primm both stressed the importance of mental health for student athletes, something the bill attempts to address as gambling can add an extra layer of pressure on athletes and coaches.

"Protecting mental health has always been a key issue for student-athletes; now this component has taken on even greater importance," said McNamara. "These athletes already put a lot of pressure on themselves." Primm added that the gambling element "has incentivized me to add this component to athlete education."

The addictive nature of gambling, and the fact that sportsbooks are deliberately targeting young audiences, also raised concerns among the Saints.

"Some of my friends who have never gambled before are seeing ads targeted at younger generations," said Valencia Fontenelle-Posson 'G'25, a guard on the women's team. "I think [the sportsbooks] need to change their target audience."

Tonko agreed, and raising his cell phone noted that online sportsbooks "put betting equipment in your hand 24/7, and there is a game going on at any given time around the world."

Don Levy, Ph.D., director of the Siena College Research Institute (SCRI), also participated. The SCRI recently conducted the American Sports Fanship Survey, providing insights into fan behaviors and attitudes, further enriching the conversation around sports betting's impact on collegiate athletes. SCRI will be reissuing the survey in the near future.

CBS6, the Times Union and Spectrum News covered the media event.