The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) has released the findings of a survey on sports betting issues on college campuses revealing that 27% of schools had dealt with a sports betting breach or problem in the past year.
Only 23% of schools using a sports wagering integrity monitoring service
According to a press release issued by the NCAA, the survey included 546 campus compliance directors of of which 500 provided usable data for the report. The report reveals that the number of schools that had encountered sports wagering issues has significantly increased jumping from 3% in 2019 to 27% in 2023.
Survey highlights
- 25% of schools also stated that they were aware that students in their athletics programs were harassed online or in-person by someone with gambling interest in their games within the past year.
- The survey found that in 2023, 100% of schools surveyed had provided gambling-related education to student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators. In 2019, only 97% of schools had done so for student-athletes.
- 85% of schools with athletes competing in Division I contests provided education more than once per year while this dropped to 50% for Division II and 32% for Division III schools.
- 76% of schools survey agreed that all NCAA student-athletes should complete a gambling education module at least once during their college careers.
- Only 23% of schools use a sports wagering integrity service to monitor games/matches with 63% of respondents saying that they rely on conference monitoring.
- 53% of schools said that they were extremely or moderately concerned about sports wagering and gambling.
- NCAA by laws and penalties alongside sports wagering terminology were cited as the primary focus among schools’ gambling education needs.
Speaking of the survey’s results NCAA President Charlie Baker said:
“Student-athletes are getting harassed by bettors, and billion-dollar ad campaigns are targeting young people across the country. We need all the help we can get, including from regulators and sportsbooks, to protect student-athletes and protect the integrity of the games. The NCAA will use this staff survey data, as well as data from our prior sports betting activities survey of college-age respondents, to make the best tools available to help schools educate student-athletes on how and why to avoid sports betting. Clearly there is more work to do, but this survey will be a big help with all our sports betting efforts.”
Clint Hangebrauck, managing director of enterprise risk management at the NCAA added:
“This survey is informative as we continue to develop e-learning and other educational resources related to sports wagering, which will be rolled out to the membership later this year.”
In June of this year, The NCAA published new guidelines for the reinstatement of players following sports betting breaches. The new guidelines were released following a series of sports betting related suspensions and charges brought against both current and former NCAA players. In the latest case, two Iowa State athletes, one current one former, are now facing felony charges as a result of an investigation into alleged sports betting breaches by students and coaching staff.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.