NCAA Committee: 'Prohibitions Are Ineffective At Stopping Unwanted Gambling Behaviors'
An interesting nugget came out today from a committee within the NCAA that is discussing sports betting.
The NCAA’s Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports met recently and discussed “the possible deregulation of sports betting, which could allow student-athletes to bet on professional sports.”
That’s of course interesting enough on its own, but the committee also included this analysis of the situation:
…”prohibitions are ineffective at stopping unwanted gambling behaviors, and there is little evidence to suggest that current prohibitions have effectively prevented student-athlete gambling.”
Whole thing here.
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It’s interesting to hear that last bit from the NCAA, which as an organization has continued to advocate for a prohibition of all betting on college sports in the regulated market. It’s not apples to apples, but at the same time any proposed prohibition of betting on college sports would likewise be ineffective. Channels to gamble on college sports will always exist, including offshore and growing gray market options.
Anyway, back to the issue at hand: I agree that a blanket ban of betting by student-athletes doesn’t mesh well with reality. If a student-athlete is betting on a pro sport, or even sports in which they aren’t involved, why does the NCAA need to penalize them or even get involved?
So what should the NCAA do?
The committee seems interested in taking up harm-reduction strategies, which I think is far more likely to help student-athletes.
The NCAA and member schools need to double down on education and prohibitions related to betting on one’s own sport and team. This is the prohibition that actually matters, and student-athletes should be penalized for willfully ignoring it.
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