John Mateer gambling controversy, explained: Why Sooners QB was in midst of Venmo betting scandal

Morgan Moriarty

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John Mateer gambling controversy, explained: Why Sooners QB was in midst of Venmo betting scandal image

The No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners take on the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines on Saturday night. While both teams are looking to solidify themselves as College Football contenders, this marks the national primetime debut of new Sooner quarterback John Mateer. 

Mateer was a big-name transfer portal quarterback coming into 2025. But the signal-caller also made headlines before the season for off-the-field gambling allegations. The story stemmed from alleged Venmo transactions the quarterback made when he was a redshirt freshman at Washington State in 2022. 

Let's take a look at Mateer's gambling allegations, what the quarterback has said about them and more. 

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John Mateer gambling controversy

The allegations, which surfaced in early August, stemmed from an X account from an apparent individual named Bryan Aguada. 

The post showed screenshots of Venmo transactions between Mateer and some of his former Wazzu teammates. The payment descriptions included the words "sports gambling" in them, with certain games appearing to be mentioned. 

As expected, the story quickly became national news. But from the start, it appeared as though Mateer was adamant he never gambled. NCAA rules strictly prohibit sports gambling of any kind, even in states where it is legalized. 

On Aug. 12, Mateer reportedly "made it clear" to Oklahoma that he never sports gambled. According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Oklahoma officials were "looking into the situation." Mateer himself released a statement about the allegations, insisting that the descriptions of the payments were inside jokes between friends.

"The allegations that I once participated in sports gambling are false," Mateer said via a statement on X. "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 also released a statement regarding the allegations, but added that the school was not aware of any NCAA investigation, neither pending or ongoing.

It appeared as though the allegations, in addition to the Bryan Aguada figure who started it all, didn't have much evidence to back them up. Aguada's X profile stated he was an "insider" for Deadspin, in addition to a journalist for Valley News Live in Fargo, N.D. But neither outlet claimed to have employed Aguada, either in the past or present.

Blake Gamble is a journalist who covers Oklahoma locally in Norman. He also realized that the profile picture the Aguada account used was apparently a former Northwestern hockey player: 

Sooners head coach Brent Venables, who is entering his fourth season in Norman, also spoke of the matter a few days later. 

“In his mind it was nothing to be seen here," Venables said via the Oklahoman… "Thankful for the powers that be that got us to a good place quickly,”

NCAA rules specify that gambling on another game within the same sport carries a six-game suspension for athletes.

However, Mateer was never investigated by the NCAA for the matter, and was never suspended from OU practices or games. During Oklahoma's season-opener against Illinois State, Mateer went 30-of-37 passing for 392 yards and three touchdowns. 

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Why did John Mateer transfer from Washington State?

Mateer flew under the radar as a high school football recruit. Per 247Sports, he was just a three-star recruit out of Little Elm, Texas. Washington State was his only offer from a power-conference school. After taking a redshirt in 2022, he backed up Cam Ward for the Cougars in 2023. 

During his first season as a starter in 2024, he had a breakout year for the Cougs, throwing for 3,139 yards with 29 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. 

Despite the success he had, Washington State had coaching turnover at the end of the year. Head coach Jake Dickert left for Wake Forest, and Mateer's offensive coordinator in Pullman, Ben Arbuckle landed with Oklahoma. Following his offensive coordinator to Norman made Mateer's transfer decision pretty easy. 

"They were throwing some freaking money at me, man -- oh my god," Mateer told ESPN this offseason. "But it wasn't about that. The money was always going to come. The scheme and the fit had to be right." 

Mateer told the outlet that his decision became "really easy" when his former OC landed with Sooners. 

Oklahoma QB depth chart

Here's a look at Oklahoma's depth chart this season, with Mateer as the clear No. 1.

QBPosition
1John Mateer
2Michael Hawkins Jr. 
3Whitt Newbaur

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Morgan Moriarty

Morgan Moriarty joined The Sporting News as a content producer in the fall of 2024. Her sports journalism career started at the University of Florida in 2012, where she graduated in 2015. She has covered college football and basketball, the NFL and numerous other major sports for outlets like the Tampa Bay Times, Saturday Down South, UPROXX Sports and SB Nation. She also covers college football for Bleacher Report, and is a featured guest on various CNN programs.