On November 14, the Iowa Board of Regents will consider a policy prohibiting regents and office staff from betting on any regent National Collegiate Athletic Association team–Iowa Hawkeyes, Iowa State Cyclones or University of Northern Iowa Panthers–student athlete or coach. The policy would apply to any regulated or licensed gambling facility or regulated internet betting sites. A summary of the proposed policy stated its goal is to “remove any question of a potential conflict of interest.”
Fantasy sports would not be included.
The act legalizing sports waging and fantasy sports contests in Iowa was enacted in May and took effect in August.
The proposed policy would ban regents and office staff from sports wagering at any gambling facility licensed by the Iowa Racing and Gambling Commission, a commission for a state outside of Iowa and those operating in accordance to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Regents and office staff would be prohibited from providing information about teams, athletes and coaches that is not already available to the public, wagering entities or individuals.
Last month, University of Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta told the Faculty Senate, “We have 650 student athletes, and we certainly educate them. Our vulnerability and risk probably exist greater outside of that. It is something we are concerned about.” In fact, he noted, “I would love it if sports wagering was not legal in our state, especially on collegiate students.”
Students, faculty, and staff would not be banned from participating in sports betting, as proposed by other Big Ten institutions, Barta said. However, he noted the Big Ten have hired an company that will follow games moment-by-moment to keep a spotlight on integrity.
