The NCAA has voted to remove its restriction on betting on professional sports for Division I athletes and staff members. The Oct. 4 decision will allow Division I athletes to place bets on the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and other professional-level sports, as long as Division II and III committees approve the change when they vote on the issue in late October.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors laid the groundwork for the new policy to take effect in April, passing with a 21-1 vote in favor and submitting the decision to the Division I Council this month. If all three divisions approve the motion, the policy will take effect on Nov. 1.
Until then, betting on college-level sports is still prohibited for Division I athletes, as well as sharing insider information on college sports with potential bettors. The NCAA’s restrictions on betting have been in place since 1997.
The NCAA was motivated to make this change after an increase in sports betting allegations across the country. In September, a Fresno State men’s basketball player purposefully skewed his performance for gambling purposes in a prop betting scheme with three other athletes from Fresno State and San Jose State. Thirteen additional former players are currently under investigation regarding sports betting issues from Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley.
The change “allows the NCAA, the conferences and member schools to focus on protecting the integrity of college games while, at the same time, encouraging healthy habits for student-athletes who choose to engage in betting activities on college sports,” Illinois athletic director and committee chair Josh Whitman said in a press release from the NCAA on the subject. The proposed change will allow collegiate student-athletes to legally engage in sports betting while still upholding the integrity of the NCAA.
“Abstinence-only approaches to social challenges for college-aged individuals are often not as successful as approaches that focus on education about risks and open dialogue,” NCAA chief medical officer Deena Casiero said in the release.
With the new policy, the NCAA makes it a goal to educate collegiate student-athletes on the risks and rewards of sports betting, releasing an e-learning module for student-athletes on gambling harms and integrity risks of sports gambling. Over 50,000 student-athletes and prospects have completed the module, according to the NCAA. The NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) executive team encourages collegiate athletic programs to make proper mental health resources available, as they hope to “ensure well-being and integrity remain at the core of college athletics.”