John Mateer had the dubious honor of trending on social media on Monday night after the new Oklahoma Sooners quarterback's Venmo history caused quite a stir. First pointed out by the Barstool Longhorn (a Texas fan account), Mateer had three transactions from 2022, his freshman year at Washington State, that were labeled "sports gambling". Obviously, given that the NCAA prohibits athletes from betting on collegiate games, that sent the college football world into a tailspin wondering what was going on, how Mateer could be that clueless, and with rivals ready to pounce.
The Oklahoma signal-caller only seemed to make the controversy worse when he then made his Venmo transactions private, only further fueling speculation from Texas fans and other rivals that he indeed had bet on sports. However, both Mateer and the Sooners administration were forced to release statements on Tuesday to address the issue at hand.
Mateer's came first, via his Twitter/X account, and characterized the "sports gambling" transactions as an "inside joke".
"The allegations that I once participated in sports gambling are false. 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, those Venmo descriptions suggest otherwise. I can assure my teammates, coaches, and officials at the NCAA that I have not engaged in any sports gambling."
Oklahoma then released their own statement, noting that the university takes any allegations or investigations seriously, but that they are "unaware of any NCAA investigation" as of this moment, even if there wasn't a direct mention of Mateer.
OU athletics has also released a statement regarding John Mateer.
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) August 12, 2025
"OU Athletics is unaware of any NCAA investigation and has no reason to believe there is one pending." #Sooners pic.twitter.com/ULT2ziNuQR
John Mateer and Oklahoma address sports gambling allegations after Venmo controversy
Just from a human perspective and from someone who's not involved as an Oklahoma fan or a fan of a rival program, Mateer calling this an inside joke checks out, at least somewhat. Let he or she who hasn't tried to be funny with their friends when sending a Venmo transaction cast the first stone in this case. Though, admittedly, if I was joking about "sports gambling", I wouldn't also include the UCLA-USC game in the caption as well, but that's just me.
At the same time, this isn't going to quiet watchdog rivals who believe that Mateer was up to something nefarious and may have actually engaged in betting on sports. College football fans are simply built different when it comes to fandom, and when they smell even a microscopic drop of blood in the water, they're going to try and feast if they can on the controversy. That's just how this works in the sport.
So, for Mateer and Oklahoma to come out with what amounts to a denial and trying to push this all to the side is the right move on the part of the Sooners, it just won't quell the calls for further investigation into the matter. And frankly, maybe that is warranted.
For the Sooners, though, this couldn't come at a worse time. Brent Venable brought in Mateer and his Wazzu offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, to help rejuvenate an offense that was, frankly, quite broken a season ago. That has raised the bar of expectations for the preseason No. 18 team in the country. But if there is any fire with the smoke from Mateer's Venmo, that could be a catastrophe in Norman that Venables might not be able to save his job from.