NCAA urges state gambling commissions to eliminate prop bets
NCAA President Charlie Baker has sent a letter to state regulators requesting the removal of individual player markets.
US.- National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) President Charlie Baker has called on state gambling commissions to adjust state laws and regulations to eliminate gambling on individual player prop bets. The request also covers other high-risk prop bets, such as first-half unders.
Baker said in a statement: “The Association has and will continue to aggressively pursue sports betting violations in college athletics using a layered integrity monitoring program that covers over 22,000 contests, but we still need the remaining states and regulators to eliminate threats to integrity to better protect athletes and leagues from integrity risks and predatory bettors.”
The NCAA sent a letter to commissions calling for state laws and regulations be amended to create a stronger framework to protect student-athletes. It added that the changes requested include stricter accountability for bettors found to have harassed student-athletes and/or influenced betting behaviours.
The letter said: Following the federal indictments today involving basketball integrity issues, the NCAA reiterates our deep concerns about the dangers collegiate sports betting poses to the health, safety and well-being of over 550,000 student-athletes and to the integrity of NCAA competitions. To better protect student-athletes, game officials and competitions, state laws and regulations must be amended to remove the types of bets we know are being manipulated.”
The association stated that one issue that deeply troubles the NCAA is betting markets centred around many aspects of a student-athlete’s individual athletic performance, otherwise known as player prop bets. It also said: “In addition to player prop bets, certain game prop markets such as first half under spreads should be banned.”
The letter comes after Baker requested the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to suspend college sports prediction markets and hours after federal prosecutors announced multiple indictments in a sports betting investigation involving college basketball.
NCAA reverses rule change on professional sports betting
Last November, the NCAA voted to rescind a previously approved rule change that would have allowed student-athletes and athletics department staff to legally bet on professional sports. After a 30-day review period, two-thirds of Division I member schools voted to rescind the change.
The result means that the ban on all forms of betting for sports in which the NCAA sponsors a championship will remain in place for all three NCAA divisions.
