Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer found himself at the center of a storm after screenshots of his Venmo payments surfaced on social media. A couple of transactions were tagged with sports gambling, and one of the transactions even referred to the UCLA vs. USC clash from 2022.
As per NCAA rules, college athletes are prohibited from betting on any sport offered by the NCAA. If an athlete bets on their own sport, even if it’s another school, they risk a six-game suspension. With the screenshots going viral, the speculation spread fast, so much so that even Paul Finebaum has decided to wade into the chaos.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum Weighs In on John Mateer Controversy, Dismissing It As “Comical”
The ESPN college football voice, Paul Finebaum, got a call on his show. The viewer went on to ask Finebaum about his thoughts on the Mateer issue. “I don’t think there’s anything to it, and you hate these things to pop up,” Finebaum said, brushing aside the scandal.
In Finebaum’s eyes, the Mateer issue has more noise than substance. He even doubled down, declaring, “I think it’s over,” a verdict that probably had more than a few Sooners fans breathing easier. For those late to the story, here is what happened.
The images of Mateer’s Venmo transactions were posted from a burner account. The screenshots showed Mateer sending money twice to a friend with “sports gambling” in the description. The first raised eyebrows, but the second tied it directly to the Bruins-Trojans game.
That was the game where Oklahoma star Caleb Williams led USC to a 48-45 win. These payments date back to Mateer’s redshirt freshman year at Washington State, making the whole timeline more tangled.
Despite all the noise, Mateer, for his part, didn’t flinch. In a statement put out on X, Mateer flatly denied placing any bets, calling the captions “inside jokes” between friends that “did not accurately portray the transactions.”
How do you attend college and make such a brain-dead mistake, John Mateer? pic.twitter.com/WRdAL1Wh0G
— The Scratch Gamblers (@ScratchGamblers) August 12, 2025
Mateer made it clear, writing, “I have never bet on sports.” However, as per reports from ESPN’s Pete Thamel, “Oklahoma officials are aware of John Mateer’s Venmo activity that surfaced online last night that twice references ‘sports gambling’ and includes a reference to a specific game.”
Oklahoma, however, has backed Mateer, saying they had no reason to believe he’d broken any rules, while also pointing out that their student-athletes are constantly educated on the dangers and strict regulations of sports gambling.
— John Mateer (@John_Mateer4) August 12, 2025
Finebaum wasn’t done just yet. He also went on to talk about NCAA president Charlie Baker, recalling Baker’s recent CBS Morning Show interview and labelling it “downright comical.” “Listening to his nonsense,” Finebaum said, “but then again, he represents the NCAA.”
Interestingly, all of this lands in the middle of a big career chapter for Mateer. Once a one-offer high school recruit, he exploded at Washington State with over 3,100 passing yards, 826 rushing yards, and 15 total touchdowns last season.
That made him one of the top transfer targets in the portal. And when Oklahoma hired his former Wazzu coordinator Ben Arbuckle, Mateer followed. Now he’s set to try and drag the Sooners’ offense, which ranked at an unfortunate 119th in passing last year, into SEC respectability.
