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Oklahoma Soners Quarterback John Mate has denied sports betting after screenshots of his Venmo account became Viral Monday night.
Mate’s Venmo story was deleted from Tuesday, but the alleged transactions went their way through social media. They were from the fall of 2022 while he was a beginner in Washington State, and there was one referring to USC and UCLA.
The words “sports games” were used twice in the memo section of the payments.
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Oklahoma Quarterback John Mate throws a passport during exercise in Norman, Okla., Wednesday, August 6, 2025. (IMagn)
Mate on Tuesday issued a statement and said he had nothing to do with sports betting.
“The claims that I once participated in sports games are false,” Mate said at X. “My former Venmo descriptions did not portray exactly the transactions in question, but instead were in jokes between me and my friends. I have never put on sports. I understand the severity of the case, but acknowledge it, taken out of context, these friendly descriptions suggest.
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“I can insure my teammates, coaches and officials at NCAA that I haven’t engaged in sports games.”
Oklahoma Athletics also released a statement about the case and emphasized “continuous training to her student athletes, coaches and staff in issues related to sports games.”
“The department uses Prohibet, which is an industry standard service that offers extensive monitoring of sports game activities. OU takes all claims about games seriously and works closely with NCAA in any worry situations.
Oklahoma Soners Quarterback John Mate (10) signs a helmet for a fan under Meet the Soners Day at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Saturday 2 August 2025. (IMagn)
“OU -Athletics is unaware of any NCAA examination and has no reason to believe that there is a pending.”
Per NCAA rules can a player who is found to have bet on his own sport lose up to half a season of eligibility. In addition, a player who bet on something involving their own team could face a permanent loss of NCAA eligibility.
It happened in 2023 when the former Iowa State Quarterback Hunter Dekkers lost his justification because he placed an effort on a cyclones game while backuping in 2021.
Mate transferred to Sooners’ program after the 2024 season when he decided to go with ex-Washington State Offensive Coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Oklahoma. Washington State was one of the best offenses in the country last season, an average of 36.6 points per year. Match.
Oklahoma Quarterback John Mate enters the most important media space in SEC Media days in College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. (IMagn)
Mateer spoke 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns for cougars, while also led the team in haste with 826 yards and 15 scores on earth.
It was tied with Miamis Cam Ward, the first overall election of the 2025 NFL draft of the Tennessee Titans, for the most touchdowns in college football in 2024.
