NCAA Student-Athletes Can Soon Bet on Professional Sports

It's official. Starting on November 1, student-athletes who play NCAA-sanctioned collegiate sports are permitted to wager on professional sports as long as they use a legitimate, regulated sportsbook.

The likelihood that college players competing in NCAA sports would soon be permitted to wager on the results of professional sporting events was revealed earlier this month by Casino.org.The proposal to change the restriction on student-athletes betting on all sports to exclude professional events was approved by the NCAA Division I Administrative Committee.

As anticipated, the plan was approved by the NCAA Division II and II management councils this week. Due to the adoption, all college students who are of legal sports gambling age will be allowed to legally wager on professional sports starting on November 1.

"This change recognizes the realities of today’s sports environment without compromising our commitment to protecting the integrity of college competition or the well-being of student-athletes,” said Roberta Page, the director of athletics at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and the Division II Management Council chair.

The NCAA claims that its new rules regarding sports betting "are not an endorsement of sports betting." 

NCAA Regulatory Obligations 

There are three reasons why the NCAA decided to permit student-athletes to wager on professional sports. College athletes who deliberately or unknowingly break the rule won't face severe consequences, such as losing their eligibility, because to the lifting.

The fact that it is an enormous task to keep an eye on every college athlete's online gaming and betting activities, including both collegiate and professional sports, may be the driving force behind this. Over 540K student-athletes compete in 24 sports at more than 1,000 member schools in the NCAA alone.

The surveillance burden is substantially lessened when collegiate athletes are permitted to wager on professional sports. According to the NCAA, the modification enables the organization, its member institutions, and its conferences "to focus on protecting the integrity of college games... while encouraging healthy habits for student-athletes who choose to engage in betting activities on professional sports."

"We run the largest sports betting integrity program in the world,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker. “Sadly, we discovered some student athletes involved with some problematic activity.”

There is also the belief that if the pro sports betting ban is lifted, some student-athletes may be able to wager on the NFL and other professional sports through local bookies or unregulated, offshore web sportsbooks. Consumer protections including bank account security and responsible betting programs are offered by regulated sportsbooks.

College Bets Continue to Be Out of Bounds

Regardless of whether they play in the relevant sport, conference, or division, all NCAA student-athletes are nonetheless prohibited from placing bets on any outcome involving collegiate sports.

“NCAA rules ban participation in sports betting activities and prohibit providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports betting activities concerning intercollegiate or amateur athletics competition,” the NCAA rules read. “In other words, if you are a student-athlete, coach, or athletics staff member, regardless of sport or division, you are not allowed to bet or provide any useful information that can influence a bet in any sport the NCAA sponsors at any level.”