NCAA’s Major Rule Change Will Allow Student-Athletes to Bet on Professional Sports

The NCAA’s Division I Administrative Committee adopted legislation today that will allow student-athletes to wager on professional sports.

Division II and III committees still need to approve the rule change before it can take effect on November 1; however, sources told Sports Illustrated that this is expected to happen later this month. The rule extends to athletics department staff members, who will also be able to bet on pro sports.  

The NCAA’s press release noted the committee emphasized that the decision is “not an endorsement of sports betting, particularly for student-athletes.”

“The Administrative Committee was clear in its discussion today that it remains concerned about the risks associated with all forms of sports gambling, but ultimately voted to reduce the restrictions on student-athletes in this area to better align with their campus peers,” said Illinois Athletic Director & Committee Chair Josh Whitman. “This allows the NCAA, the conferences, and member schools to focus on protecting the integrity of college games.”

The Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee also supported the rule change.

Integrity of College Games is Paramount

The new policy comes at a time when the NCAA and college compliance departments “have been bogged down dealing with relatively small-scale betting violations” on the NFL, MLB, and NBA.

The change will allow the NCAA and member schools to focus on “policing wagering that more directly threatens the college athletics product.” Chief among the concerns:

• Point shaving
• Game-fixing or spot-fixing (manipulation of individual player performances)
• Abuse of student-athletes by angry gamblers

Last month, the NCAA permanently banned three college basketball players for gambling violations. Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez, and Jalen Weaver were all at Fresno State during the 2023-24 season, before Vasquez subsequently moved to San Jose State. The violations involved betting on player prop markets, and in Robinson’s case, deliberately underperforming in a game against Colorado State.

Shortly after, the NCAA revealed it was pursuing penalties against 13 more college basketball players for unspecified sports betting rule violations. The players competed at six different schools: Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley.

NCAA President Continues Crusade for Ban on College Player Props

NCAA President Charlie Baker has long been a proponent of banning prop bets on college athletes. Baker appeared on CNBC shortly after the NCAA and Venmo announced a new partnership to help combat the online harassment of athletes by angry bettors in late August.

Baker added, “The harassment we are seeing across various online platforms is unacceptable, and we need fans to do better. We applaud Venmo for taking action, and we need more social media companies and online platforms to do the same.”

Perhaps the most vigilant, Ohio is among several states that don’t allow betting on college player props. Gov. Mike DeWine took things a step further this summer in proposing a ban on all player props, including those involving pro players.

“The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm,” he said. “The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly. I call on the Casino Control Commission to correct this problem and remove all prop bets from the Ohio marketplace.”