The NCAA Division 1 Administrative Committee is considering allowing student-athletes to bet on pro sports.
On Wednesday the committee adopted a proposal to allow both student-athletes and athletic department staff to bet on professional sports, a shift in the longtime policy that has since become increasingly difficult to enforce following the regulation of sports betting in the United States.
Divisions II and III are also considering the proposal in their respective meetings at the end of the month and if the rule is approved by the lower divisions it will come into effect as early as November 1.
As it stands, athletes and athletic department staff are prohibited from betting on any sport – at professional or collegiate level – that are also played at NCAA level.
That includes football, basketball, hockey, baseball golf and tennis for example – so wagering on the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB will land you in hot water.
Betting on horse racing, boxing, MMA or cricket is allowed.
Any who are found to have violated league rules are at risk of various penalties including partial to permanent loss of eligibility.
Earlier this year two former Fresno State basketball players and their ex-teammate who was most recently at San Jose State found out the hard way as they were slapped with lifetime bans for betting on their own games.
The NCAA is also pursuing another 13 gambling violations involving ex-college basketball players across six schools.
Some rules vary by state and it’s even a misdemeanor in Tennessee for any NCAA athlete to bet on sports while in Virginia the rule is specific to bets on ‘any event in a league which such a person participates.’
In Kentucky it’s illegal for athletes to bet on events they participate in and also a misdemeanor for ‘spouses and family members’ to bet on those events too.
NCAA officials emphasised that the potential rule change is not an endorsement of sports betting and they remain concerned with the risks associated with all forms of gambling.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
