How Colleges and Sports-Betting Companies ‘Caesarized’ Campuses
The University of South Carolina received an email from Betting On Sports, an email that read, “Dear U. of S.C.,” an email that was addressed, “Dear U. of S.C.,” and yet another that was addressed, “Dear U. of S.C.” These were only five of the more than 1,900 emails a sports-betting company wrote to the University of South Carolina over the course of the year.
When it comes to the University of South Carolina, the largest school in the South and the third largest in the entire world, the emails provide a window into what has become a troubling problem. Over the course of five years, Betting on Sports has written dozens of emails to the University of South Carolina. In these emails, the company says it is trying to “make a difference” to the University of South Carolina. And it seems to be succeeding — so well, in fact, that it has begun to alter its emails.
“It seems like the emails are changing,” said Jennifer Brierley, the director of communications for the University of South Carolina System. “Now it appears the company is sending fewer, larger emails to the university.”
These emails have been sent to the University of South Carolina at least since 2014, when Betting on Sports began sending emails to a university system that, according to the U.S. Department of Education, is no longer accredited.
By the end of the year, Betting on Sports’ emails to the University System of the South were twice as many as they were in the weeks before the University of South Carolina’s decision to not renew its accreditation in November 2014.
When asked about these emails, Betting on Sports did not respond to a request for comment
