Oklahoma Officials Aware of John Mateer Betting Allegations

Sooners on SI can confirm reports from SoonerScoop and ESPN that Oklahoma officials are “aware” of quarterback John Mateer’s alleged Venmo activity, which references sports gambling.

On Monday evening, multiple users on X (formerly Twitter) found what appeared to be Mateer’s transaction history on Venmo — a mobile payment service — under the username “John-Mateer-5.” Three transactions on the account — dated Nov. 19, 2022, Nov. 20, 2022 and Nov. 23, 2022 — alluded to sports betting.

Oklahoma QB John Mateer has scrubbed his Venmo account after fans found screenshots showing he allegedly engaged in sports betting while at Washington State.

Should Sooner fans be worried about their QB1? pic.twitter.com/F9LLIt5I5z
— SEC Unfiltered (@SECUnfiltered) August 12, 2025

The account was switched to private late Monday, but while it was still public, numerous screenshots captured what appears to be financial transactions and activity attributed to Mateer. In the screenshots, the first transaction is labeled “sports gambling.” The second transaction says “sports gambling (UCLA vs USC).”

Evidently, the second of those transactions refers to the 2022 installment of the rivalry game between the Trojans and the Bruins, which USC won 48-45.

Both of the first two transactions were directed from "John-Mateer-5" to an account with the name Richard Roaten — but the username is “landonroaten.” Landon Roaten is an offensive lineman who was also a true freshman for the Cougars in 2022. Roaten's alleged account paid Mateer's alleged account in the third transaction, which was labeled "ultra sports gambling FIFA World Cup."

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At the time of these transactions, Mateer was a true freshman at Washington State, where he played the first three seasons of his college career. Mateer played in only one game in 2022, throwing a touchdown pass against Stanford on Nov. 5.

Roughly two hours after the first posts of Mateer’s alleged Venmo transaction history, the account “John-Mateer-5” was made private.

The first post on X about Mateer's alleged Venmo history came from the account Bryan Aguada, who claims to be an insider at Deadspin and Valley News Live.

🚨BREAKING🚨

Oklahoma QB John Mateer has allegedly engaged in sports betting, including on NCAA football games such as UCLA vs USC, according to Venmo transactions.

NCAA rules prohibit athletes from wagering on any NCAA-sanctioned events pic.twitter.com/UZTt8g4iDR
— Bryan Aguada (@Bryan_Aguada) August 11, 2025

However, KREF radio co-host and producer Blake Gamble reported that an employee at Valley News Live — a news outlet in Fargo, ND — is unfamiliar with anyone named Bryan Aguada having worked there. The account dates back to 2023 and includes mostly retweets and posts of news reports broken by other accounts. Any actual past reporting or background or even an online presence attributed to a Bryan Aguada apparently doesn't exist beyond the Twitter account, which itself has now been called into question.

🚨BREAKING🚨
Bryan Aguada claims to be the Senior Journalist at @ValleyNewsLive - however, after speaking with someone who's been with publication for 2 years. They aren't familiar with a "Bryan Aguada" #Sooners #CFB https://t.co/cRYXLeAHGm pic.twitter.com/hWNCn77OyA
— Blake Gamble (@Blakes_Takes) August 12, 2025

The profile pic for @Bryan_Aguada is actually of '16-17 Northeastern hockey player Zach Aston-Reese.

Just spoke w/ the Office Manager of @ValleyNewsLive who looked through their records. They have never employed either person.

Mateer is Innocent. Case Closed.#Sooners #CFB https://t.co/4tvrw0LXMM pic.twitter.com/swzMniiAA1
— Blake Gamble (@Blakes_Takes) August 12, 2025

Mateer came to Oklahoma after his lone season as WSU’s starting quarterback in 2024. The dual-threat quarterback logged 3,139 yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions last year while also rushing for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024.

In the transfer portal, Mateer was ranked the No. 3 transfer quarterback in the 2025 offseason by 247Sports, behind only Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee) and Carson Beck (Georgia), who transferred to UCLA and Miami, respectively. Mateer has taken all of the first-team reps at quarterback since arriving on campus and is expected to be OU's Week 1 starter.

According to NCAA rules, student-athletes who are found to have wagered on contests in their own sport face a 50 percent loss of one season of eligibility. The NCAA also requires education on sports gambling rules and prevention for student-athletes who commit wagering violations.

Oklahoma officials are aware of John Mateer’s Venmo activity that surfaced on-line last night that twice references "sports gambling" and includes a reference to a specific game. Mateer has consistently denied to OU officials ever being involved with gambling, per a source.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 12, 2025

Sooners on SI can also confirm the reports that Mateer has consistently denied to university officials ever being involved in betting.

Oklahoma begins the 2025 season on Saturday, Aug. 30, against Illinois State.