• Square-facebook

John Mateer, Oklahoma Released Statements on Sports Gambling Rumors

Time to read
1 minute
Read so far

John Mateer, Oklahoma Released Statements on Sports Gambling Rumors

Posted in:

SOONER WIRE - Late Monday evening, screenshots of a Venmo account surfaced that suggested Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer had allegedly engaged in sports gambling. Tuesday morning, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that the University of Oklahoma was aware of the rumors but Mateer “consistently denied” the rumors.

The Venmo account in question appears to belong to Mateer, as transactions went to former Washington State teammates, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, and a family member, according to The Oklahoman.

Mateer released a statement via social media denying that the transactions were involved in sports gambling.

“The allegations that I once participated in sports gambling are false,” Mateer shared via X, formerly known as Twitter. “My previous Venmo descriptions did not accurately portray the transactions in question but were instead inside jokes between me and my friends. I have never bet on sports. I understand the seriousness of the matter, but recognize that, taken out of context, these Venmo descriptions suggest otherwise. I can assure my teammates, coaches, and officials at the NCAA that I have not engaged in sports gambling.”

The University of Oklahoma released the following statement.

“OU Athletics provides ongoing education to its student-athletes, coaches, and staff on matters related to sports gambling,” the statement read. “The department utilizes ProhiBet, which is an industry-standard service offering comprehensive monitoring of sports gambling activities. OU takes any allegations of gambling seriously and works closely with the NCAA in any situations of concern. OU Athletics is unaware of any NCAA investigation and has no reason to believe there is one pending.”

Though there isn’t an NCAA investigation into the matter at the moment, that doesn’t mean that the NCAA couldn’t or won’t look into the transactions made by Mateer in his Venmo account. However, at the moment, it appears OU is satisfied with Mateer’s explanation of the matter.

Image
John Mateer, Oklahoma Released Statements on Sports Gambling Rumors