Topline
NCAA president Charlie Baker is calling for all states where sports wagering is legal to ban prop bets on collegiate sports, joining similar bans in Ohio, Maryland and other states, following a series of collegiate coaches and athletes implicated in illegal betting probes over the last year.
Key Facts
Baker said Wednesday the NCAA is “drawing the line” on sports betting to “protect student-athletes and to protect the integrity of the game,” suggesting student and professional athletes have been subjected to harassment over prop betting, or bets for an individual athlete’s performance or other team statistics.
Some states have banned prop bets on collegiate sports, including Ohio, Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts and Oregon, while others, like Michigan, Wyoming, Kansas and Louisiana, still allow them.
A handful of states only prohibit prop bets on in-state schools, including Connecticut, Illinois and Iowa, among others.
The NCAA will contact officials in states where collegiate prop bets are allowed, Baker said.
Key Background
Baker has opposed prop bets in college sports since becoming president last year. He told CBS News in November he believed prop betting is “one of the parts I worry about the most.” Baker said before an NCAA event in January that because more states have legalized sports gambling, the amount of stress imposed on student-athletes has increased. The NCAA partnered with the data science firm Signify to identify possible threats made to athletes during championship events, according to Baker. Gambling watchdogs have warned collegiate administrators that prop betting will likely increase the risk of NCAA violations among student-athletes and coaches, the Associated Press reported.
Tangent
Earlier this month, the gambling watchdog U.S. Integrity flagged unusual betting patterns during a pair of Temple University basketball games earlier this year. The group also flagged unusual betting involving University of Alabama baseball games last year, which resulted in head coach Brad Bohannon being fired amid a probe by the NCAA. The investigation found Bohannon disclosed insider information about the team to a gambler, who then placed a $15,000 bet against Bohannon’s team during a game last year. More than a dozen charges were filed in August against Iowa State University and University of Iowa student-athletes, who allegedly placed bets on games in which they placed. Former Louisiana State University wide receiver Kayshon Boutte was arrested earlier this year, after a state investigation found he used an alias to place illegal bets, including some on the LSU football team while he played.
Big Number
$2.7 billion. That’s how much the American Gaming Association estimates will be bet on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments this year.
Surprising Fact
A NCAA survey of more than 3,500 participants found 58% of 18- to 22-year-olds have placed at least one sports bet. About 67% of college students living on campus have placed bets, the NCAA said, while 41% of college students who have placed sports bets have gambled on their school’s teams.
Further Reading
Brad Bohannon, Ex-Alabama Coach, Sanctioned In Betting Scandal (ESPN)
More Iowa State, Iowa Players Charged In Sports Betting Investigation (ESPN)
