As sports betting expands in the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has established a new committee which will explore the country’s sports wagering landscape and its potential impact on existing rules implemented by the association.
Now that there are close to 20 states looking at legalizing sports betting within their boundaries, the NCAA is stepping up its efforts to protect student-athlete well-being and maintain the competition’s integrity.
The committee will also examine some of the risks posed by sports betting particularly on NCAA’s player availability policies and educational efforts.
In a statement, G.P ‘Bud’ Peterson, NCAA’s board of Governors chair said
The core values of protecting student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition are at the heart of these efforts. We must continue to evolve and adapt our approach as the landscape continues to change and sports wagering expands in the United States
Individuals connected to the NCAA, including student athletes, coaches and athletics employees are currently not allowed to bet on sports. The association is keen on keeping it that way, imposing penalties on violators.
The NCAA will work hand in hand with other relevant organizations to make sure they are adopting the appropriate rules, research and education programs. NCAA board vice chair Glen Jones said the association’s main goal is to equip student-athletes with the right information, tools and awareness so they could better understand the growing sports betting environment in the US.
A sports wagering and well-being summit, which will be organized by the NCAA Sport Science Institute will be held in March 2019 to further strengthen NCAA’s education initiative. The conference will see a number of sports betting operators as well as mental health experts and gambling addiction professionals coming together to discuss ways on how to protect vulnerable students and athletes from developing gambling problems.
The issue around sports integrity fees has not been addressed by the association as of now. The NCAA was among a number of groups present during a sports betting hearing in Indiana last week wherein US professional sports leagues wanted betting operators to shell out what they termed as ‘integrity fees’ which would help to stop match fixing from taking place.
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