The NCAA Division I Administrative Committee on Wednesday adopted a proposal to allow student-athletes and athletics department staff to bet on professional sports, a change to a longstanding policy that had become difficult to enforce with the expansion of legal sports betting in the United States.
Divisions II and III are expected to consider the proposal at their respective meetings in late October, the NCAA said. If approved by the lower divisions, the rule would go into effect on November 1.
Athletes and sports staff have been prohibited from betting on any sport, professional or collegiate, sponsored by the NCAA. Betting on college sports will continue to be prohibited.
The potential change comes as the NCAA has faced an increasing number of alleged betting violations by student-athletes in recent years. In September, the NCAA announced that a Fresno State men's basketball player had manipulated his own performance for betting purposes and conspired with two other players in a prop betting scheme. The NCAA is investigating 13 additional student-athletes from six schools in connection with possible in-game violations related to integrity issues.
“Law enforcement personnel continue to investigate and resolve cases involving sports betting quickly but thoroughly,” Jon Duncan, NCAA vice president of law enforcement, said in a statement announcing the proposed rule change. “Law enforcement personnel are investigating a significant number of cases that are specifically relevant to the NCAA's fair competition mission, and our focus will remain on those cases and those behaviors that impact the integrity of college sports most directly.”
NCAA officials stressed that the rule change is not an endorsement of sports betting and that they remain concerned about the risks associated with all forms of sports betting. The change was supported by the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
“Abstinence-only approaches to social challenges for college-age individuals are often not as successful as approaches that focus on risk education and open dialogue,” Dr. Deena Casiero, the NCAA's chief medical officer, said in the statement.
