NCAA colleges seek compensation from sports betting

Athletic programs from the NCAA are considering ways to receive revenue from bets placed on events from college teams.

US.- After the US Supreme Court decided to strike the Act that prevented states from offering sports betting, several parties are studying their options to be able to receive a percentage of the recently legalised gambling market. Colleges are expecting a percentage of the amount wagered on events involving their teams to be redirected to the schools.

Representatives from Missouri, Rutgers and UConn participated in a conference call with the Major League Baseball (MLB) in which options were discussed, ESPN reported. Among those options, the entities included the creation of a mechanism where a percentage wagered on events involving college teams would be returned back to the schools.

Last week, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) decided to support the decision made by the US Supreme Court and suspended a policy that prohibited any NCAA championship from happening in states that allowed single-game sports wagering.

UConn athletic director David Benedict told the sports outlet: “I can confirm that a representative from UConn was present on yesterday’s conference call. It was beneficial to collaborate with peer and professional institutions as we prepare for what will result from the recent Supreme Court ruling.”

Tom McMillen, head of the Division I Athletic Directors Association, commented: “The schools are concerned that they’re going to be taking a lot of risks and are going to have increased compliance costs. A lot of these schools have not been in the loop on a lot of this. A lot of these discussions have been going on without the universities’ input. These are the crown jewels of your states and you can’t set public policy on sports betting without involving your universities.”