NCAA officials have expressed concerns that collegiate athletes may get confused by the spread of legal sports betting and think they can wager on games without violating NCAA rules.
There is also concerns that sportsbooks will look to take bets on more obscure collegiate sports as sports betting grows.
Eight states have now legalized sports betting and another six could enact legislation by the end of the year.
Speaking at the International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NCAA officials expressed concerns about this rapid growth.
“We recognized similar to the marijuana conversation that when something becomes legal for our student athletes, in particular, that can become confusing,” said Naima Stark, deputy general counsel for the NCAA who appeared on a panel: The Changing Landscape of Sports Wagering and the Impact on NCAA Competition. Her comments were reported by CDC Gaming Reports.
“They might think it’s OK to do so something that is no longer illegal in states,” Stark said. “That is similar for gambling, but it is still impermissible for student athletes to smoke marijuana. Similarly, gambling from our policy is a violation that can impact eligibility. We have to make sure our student athletes understand that even though the legal environment has changed. The NCAA rules have not changed at this moment in time.”
Stark also said that the NCAA is also concerned about sportsbooks taking bets on the association’s less marquee sports such as golf, baseball and softball that are conducting championships now.
“There will be seasons throughout the year where there might be a down time like right now where there’s not a whole lot of competition outside of baseball going on domestically,” Stark said. “We learned that the men’s lacrosse championship had a betting line in some sports books. That is different, and we might see these things increase. We have wrestling around the time of the Final Four. Certain parts of the country might put a line on that.”
The NCAA has hired an integrity services partner to do a risk assessment of NCAA sports to make sure they understand what competitions are being bet on, Stark said.
“We have always had information relationships to keep the pulse on the environment and after the Supreme Court we thought it was important to formalize a relationship,” Stark said. “We’ve entered into a long-term relationship for monitoring services, and we are keeping an eye out for the integrity of the game-related issues and any anomalies.”
Stark also discussed disclosing of injuries, which is becoming an issue for sports bettors.
Athletes providing information on injuries for the purposes of someone making a wager remains a violation that can lead to suspension, she said, but the association is discussing whether the NCAA needs to provide player injury information. However, student athletes have rights to protect their medical and other personal information that makes it more difficult to do it at the collegiate level, she said.
