NCAA moves closer to allowing college athletes to bet on pro sports

The NCAA moved a step closer Wednesday to allowing athletes and athletic department staff members to bet on professional sports. The Division I Administrative Committee approved the change, which must still be approved by Division II and III for it to go into effect. If approved by all three divisions, it would go into effect Nov. 1. "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 restrictions on student-athletes in this area to better align with their campus peers," said Josh Whitman, athletics director at Illinois and chair of the committee. "This change allows the NCAA, the conferences, and the member schools to focus on protecting the integrity of college games while, at the same time, encouraging healthy habits for student-athletes who choose to engage in betting activities on professional sports." This doesn't change the NCAA rule which forbids athletes from betting on college sports. The NCAA also prohibits sharing information about college competitions with bettors. The institution also doesn't allow advertising and sponsorships of NCAA championships by betting sites. Despite the potential change, the committee emphasized that it doesn't endorse betting on sports particularly for student-athletes. "Division I members are actively working to deregulate NCAA rules where possible, and the Division I Board of Directors remains focused on preserving rules that directly speak to the fairness of college sports competition and the academic successes of college athletes," Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said. "While NCAA members do not encourage student-athletes to engage in sports betting behaviors of any kind, the timing is right to modernize these rules by removing prohibitions against betting on professional sports and focusing on harm reduction strategies for behaviors that do not impact college sports directly." The change comes as NCAA enforcement caseloads involving sports betting violations have increased in recent years. Last month the NCAA banned three men's college basketball players for sports betting, saying they had bet on their own games at Fresno State and San Jose State and were able to share thousands of dollars in payouts. The NCAA Committee on Infractions released findings from an enforcement investigation that concluded Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez and Jalen Weaver bet on one another's games and/or provided information that enabled others to do so during the 2024-25 regular season; two of them manipulated their performances to ensure certain bets were won. The eligibility was permanently revoked.