John Mateer Was Allegedly Caught Gambling Because He Didn't Set His Venmo Transactions to Private

When it comes to sports, the University of Oklahoma is struggling, and we aren't referring to how their teams are doing. In early 2025, A to Z Sports reported that games across the board saw a record loss in fan attendance. This was driven by the fact that many of their teams were doing well, and this was not a new trend. It's not a good look when a Southeastern Conference school can't get butts in seats.

Obviously, poor fan attendance is not a great look, but it certainly isn't controversial. The Sooners saved the controversy for later in 2025 when quarterback John Mateer was hit with some fairly serious allegations that involve gambling. Here's what we know so far.

Mateer's name began trending heavily on social media on Aug. 11, and it wasn't due to his cannon of an arm. According to Stormin' in Norman, news of an alleged gambling scandal was broken by Valley News Live reporter Bryan Aguada, who shared a screenshot of Venmo transactions between Mateer and someone named Richard Roaten, to X.

In the screenshots, a Venmo account under Mateer's name sent an undisclosed amount of money to Roaten in November 2022. One was for a UCLA vs USC game, while the other wasn't labeled. Both listed "sports gambling" as the reason for the transactions. "NCAA rules prohibit athletes from wagering on any NCAA-sanctioned events," wrote Aguada in his post to X.

At the time of these alleged transactions, which are casually being referred to as Venmogate, Mateer was a redshirting freshman at Washington State. Within hours of this news breaking, Aguada dropped another post to X that says the same Mateer Venmo account quickly deleted its other transactions.

Mateer has denied any involvement in sports betting, per George Stoia for the Sooner Scoop. The outlet has also spoken to several insiders associated with The University of Oklahoma who said Mateer is working with the athletic department and is in compliance. There are no indications that the NCAA has spoken to the University of Oklahoma or Mateer.

Although there might not be any fire to go along with this smoke, that hasn't stopped social media from roasting Mateer on his Instagram. In a pinned post from July 2023 where Mateer appears to be getting baptized, the Elite College Football Instagram account said, "This comment section bout to be elite." If anyone knows what's elite, it's that account.

One person joked that Mateer made the payment note the only thing he couldn't. There are several gambling-related gifs, including two from The Simpsons. In another Instagram post from July 2025, one former fan said that if the allegations are true, Mateer "cooked the Heisman slip" they had on him. "Hide the transactions bro," suggested another. By the way, the name on the other account could belong to a former Washington State offensive lineman who is now playing at Abilene Christian.