Betting on professional sports used to be illegal for college athletes, but that is about to change thanks to the NCAA’s approval of the proposal going into effect on November 1.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey expressed his concerns to the NCAA in a letter sent last week, informing President Charlie Baker that member institutions were “united” in his two-page message detailing his request to rescind the plan.
“The SEC presidents and chancellors believe that the NCAA should reinstate its prior policy – or a modified policy – communicating a ban on play to student-athletes and athletic personnel, regardless of the divisional level of their sport,” Sankey wrote in the letter.
A 16-member board is scheduled to meet on a set date Tuesday to discuss other issues, but the agenda is now expected to include whether the approved proposal should be suspended.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi also finds fault with the decision, which has no impact on the permanent ban on college athletes betting on college sports.
“It’s absolutely one of the stupidest decisions I’ve ever seen,” Narduzzi said. “First of all, it’s a habit. It’s no different than smoking, drinking, doing drugs, it’s a bad habit. I don’t think anyone here is encouraging you to go out drinking and get stoned on a Friday night or Saturday night, or at a football game.”
Athletes and sports personnel received permission to bet on professional sports earlier this month. The Division II and III athlete councils followed suit, adopting the same policy last week.
Illinois athletic director Josh Wittman, who played football for the Illini, said the Division I council’s concerns were balanced by a desire to provide an opportunity for athletes to align “with their peers on campus.”
The news was overshadowed by federal charges filed Oct. 23 against NBA head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and others in an elaborate gambling ring that allegedly involved the use of inside information to benefit an organized crime ring that included members of the Mafia.
“I’m not a gamer. So I just don’t understand,” Narduzzi said. “I’m not addicted to anything. I just don’t think it’s a good thing to teach our young people how to do it. It’s hard enough in the compliance office trying to stop your guys from gambling – you can bet on a boxing match, you can bet on horse racing because it’s not an NCAA sport, but who really gambles on horse racing, really, unless you go to the racetrack? You can go to the casino and play craps or whatever you would like to play.
“But now it’s a thing on your phone. You can pick it up, go to an app, and it’s like… what do we do? Once you’ve done it once and you win, you want to do it again. It becomes an addiction. I just think it’s not good.”
At Big East Media Days last week, NCAA President Charlie Baker said integrity would remain a strength of the institution.
“We operate the world’s largest integrity program in sports betting across all games,” Baker said.
In 2023, the Ohio State Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Recovery launched the Collegiate Problem Gambling Task Force to rapidly develop and expand virtually non-existent campus tools to identify and address problem gambling. Resources have not progressed nationally as problem gambling and addiction increases.
An estimated one in ten college students have experienced what could be defined as pathological or problem gambling, which typically results in financial stress. The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 6 percent of all current college students have a gambling problem, double the national average for adults.
CPGW Executive Director Jim Lange said increased financial stress becomes a “barrier to completing a college degree” and can be a risk factor for “suicidal ideation.”
–Field level media
