UCLA Expert: New NCAA Sports Betting Rule on Pro Sports Reflects ‘Normalization of Gambling’

The NCAA’s new rule allowing student-athletes and staff members in athletic departments to bet on pro sports goes into effect on Nov. 22.

For UCLA Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Timothy Fong, who also serves as the co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, that’s precisely how it should be.

“I was part of the early committees that talked about that, and my position is still very clear,” Fong told CasinoBeats. “This is a legal activity for adults 21 and older in most states, and some, 18 and older. This is no different than buying a cigarette or a drink of alcohol.”

He added, “Instead of trying to complete prohibition, it makes sense to focus on education, prevention, resources, and proper training.”

The NCAA Sport Science Institute will offer educational programs on risk awareness and responsible gambling habits. The new rule represents one of the most significant shifts in NCAA gambling policy since the Supreme Court overturned the Professional & Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018. Two major takeaways:

• Student-athletes and athletic department staff members age 21+ can place bets on professional sports through legal operators.
• Betting on college sports or sharing non-public information remains a major violation.

Fong is on board with the new rule’s provisions.

“The athletes themselves still are not allowed to bet on their own sports,” he said. “They’re not allowed to bet if they’re not of age. The staff members are not allowed to bet on college sports. They’re just allowed to do these other adult things that are out there in the atmosphere.”

He added, “Society has called for and allowed the normalization of gambling. We ought to then call for normalization of education, prevention of harm, and having people understand what these relationships are, rather than trying to shut it down.”

Roberta Page, director of athletics at Slippery Rock and chair of the Division II Management Council, echoed those sentiments.

“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,” Page said.

NCAA: Change Doesn’t Signal Support for Sports Betting

NCAA officials also emphasized that the rule change’s approval did not constitute an endorsement of sports betting. It’s worth noting that the prohibition of advertising and sponsorships associated with sports betting for the NCAA Championships will remain in place.

“I think it’s an interesting step in the evolution of gambling normalization, and the NCAA has a duty to explain very clearly why they’re doing this,” Fong said. “The public, though, tends to be quite critical of the NCAA and whatever they do. They assume they’re getting paid off by gambling operators. That’s what I hear. ‘Oh, the NCAA is doing it so that they can make more deals with gambling operators and make more money.’

“The NCAA does not have any active partnerships with sports betting operators. They allow advertising for sports betting companies inside the arena, but that’s not sanctioned by the NCAA. That’s by the arenas themselves.”

The NCAA is often maligned in the media, but it’s clear that officials made this decision after careful consideration and debate. There wasn’t a clear consensus, either. The Division I Board voted to move the new rule’s implementation from Nov. 1 to Nov. 22 after it was approved by less than 75% of the Division I cabinet.

Colleges Need to Create ‘Code of Conduct’ for Gambling

Fong stressed the need for NCAA member schools to draft and implement gambling-related policies. The upcoming implementation of this new legislation provides a perfect time to start those initiatives.

“We have very clear policies on alcohol use for students, for drug use for students, student code of conduct, but we do not have a written student code of conduct when it comes to gambling for any athlete or any student at all,” he said.

Fong used the example of an underage student firing up a sports betting app and using it, as opposed to say a joint, in his dorm room.

“That’s a crime, and yet it’s not viewed with any sort of concern,” he said. “If the kid started smoking in the dorm room, that’s a violation of all sorts of federal policies and university policies, and there are consequences. We still need a university-sanctioned gambling policy that has some teeth to it.”

UCLA’s Burgeoning Sports Betting Scene

Fong worked with students at select UCLA fraternities and found that gambling participation rates in sports are on the rise. He estimates that 60-70% of the student population participates and calls that number “really high.” Especially in a state that doesn’t offer legal sports betting.

“It’s just out there,” he said. “It’s what people do. You think about all the advertising and all the partnerships (on display in mainstream media). How can people not get into this? I still see, unfortunately, that too many young people view gambling as a side gig, literally as a job or a second job.”

Fong then relayed the recent story of one such patient.

“I said, ‘Well, why don’t you just get a job working at Starbucks?’ And he’s like, ‘Why would I work 10 hours, earn $200 or whatever, when I can do that in 10 seconds on one pitch? The appeal is calculated success quickly, rather than success earned in small dribbles.”

Some students obviously cross the line when it comes to recreational gambling, requiring professional help along the way. How does Fong differentiate between recreational gambling and problem gambling in clinical terms?

“Our terms are very clear,” he said. “We have social, recreational, casual, non-harmful gambling versus problem gambling, gambling disorder, and gambling addiction. The way I say it very simply: Is your gambling behavior improving your quality of life, or is it creating problems in your lifestyle?”

Individuals who continue to gamble despite suffering harmful consequences help raise alarm bells.

“If you keep chasing your losses, and you can’t stop thinking about it, and you start to do things that go against your moral code, like borrowing money you don’t have, or stealing, you know, then that’s addiction,” he said. “That’s not recreational. So, it is difficult because it’s the same lens we use for other addictive behaviors, like smoking or drinking.

“But the lens I use is that simple: Is this activity increasing your joy and improving your overall quality of life?”