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The organization is looking into the possibility of lifting its betting ban for student-athletes, coaches, and staff members, with groundwork supposedly being laid last month
The NCAA has reportedly laid the groundwork for a drastic change to its current betting policy
The NCAA could be on the verge of changing its rules on professional sports betting in what would be a huge move for the organization.
Under the current legislation, student-athletes, coaches, and staff members are forbidden from placing bets on professional sports, including football, basketball, hockey, baseball, golf and tennis, among other things. This means that college football players, for example, cannot bet on NFL games.
Earlier this year, reports claimed that three men’s college basketball teams – North Carolina A&T, Mississippi Valley State, and Eastern Michigan – were under federal investigation for game-fixing after sportsbook accounts connected to a gambling ring, also being investigated for betting on NBA games, bet against them.
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In the ensuring chaos, a statement from the NCAA to Sports Illustrated read: “The NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition.
“The Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators, and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever suspicious reports are received. Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current, pending, or potential investigations.”
Four months later, however, and the same publication is now reporting that the NCAA is considering a drastic change on its betting ban, having “laid the groundwork for such a rule change last month.”
NCAA president Charlie Baker could be about to oversee a major change in the organization’s rules on student-athlete betting(Image: Getty Images)
According to a Sunday report from Sports Illustrated, “momentum is building toward the NCAA removing its prohibition against gambling on professional sports”, with the aforementioned groundwork for the move already being forwarded to the D-I Council for further discussion this week.
The report adds that the move could be “fast-tracked into existence by late June” should the council be in favor, with the NCAA recently voting to “adopt legislation to deregulate the prohibition on wagering on professional sports.”
A safe harbor, limited immunity, or reduced penalties for student-athletes who engage in sports wagering are said to be on the list of criteria for the proposed move, also allowing for the support of those who “seek help for problem gambling.”
Ahead of this year’s March Madness, NCAA President Charlie Baker outlined the “vicious and brutal” abuse college basketball players receive as a result of bettors wagering on the post-season college basketball tournament, which was predicted to draw $3.1 billion in legal bets.
March Madness was expected to generate more than $3 billion in bets(Image: AP)
“One of the first things I did when I got here was a survey of 18 to 22-year-olds around sports betting,” Baker told CBS. When asked about what the main issue has been, he said: “Prop betting on college sports.”
Baker continued: “Go sit behind the bench at one of these conference tournaments and listen to the bettors yelling and screaming at these kids about their performance. ‘You need to do better! I’m losing money on you!’
“Or there’s the stuff that shows up online, which we track at our tournaments, which is way more vicious and brutal than that. It really is a problem.”
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