Sports Wagering, it’s Future in the NCAA
By Julian Seawright
Sports betting, one of the biggest stories of the year if not THE biggest in the sports business/industry, it also happens to be one of the most controversial. Which then raises the questions, what will the NCAA do?
Taking a look in history, according to an article on SBNation was written by Richard Johnson, sports betting alone began way back before America had become the United States. The first horse-racing track in America was established in 1665. Before the Revolutionary War and was partly funded through lottery revenue.
Over the years, horse racing became a staple sport for the people to gamble on, and by 1868, horse-racing had developed into a much more organized business venture in the United States, thanks to the publishing of the American Stud Book – a catalog of all the thoroughbreds in America. However, by the early 1900s bookmaking was outlawed in the United States which nearly killed horse racing. (Richard Johnson)
Then gambling started to affect sports in terms of the integrity of the sport. Baseball’s Black Sox scandal, members of the White Sox moved to fix the 1919 World Series which did not assist the industry in any way. This lead sports’ decision-makers to be more against sports wagering even more so on the grounds of integrity. (Richard Johnson)
In 1949, sports gambling became legal in Nevada in 1949. However, sports books bled dry because of a 10 percent cut the federal government took from them. Then arises some very notable point-shaving scandals at CCNY in 1951, North Carolina and NC State in 1961, Boston College in 1978, and Tulane in 1985, which all painted the picture that organized sports and gambling was not a good mixture. (Richard Johnson)
Legislators then introduced the Federal Wire Act of 1961, in efforts to put laws on books in order to curb the practice of gambling. The law had made it illegal to place bets or share information about them via wires across state lines. Congress had passed more laws that had forced interstate betting operations to go out of business or underground. (Richard Johnson)
Nevertheless, in the late 1970s, the Commission on the Review of the National Policy toward Gambling concluded that two-thirds of the country gambled and 80 percent approved of gambling. The commission came to the consensus that gambling was inevitable and to enforce laws against it was impossible. However, the group continued to maintain the gambling laws on books that were placed beforehand. (Richard Johnson)
This then leads us to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 also known as PASPA. This law required states to tell the government within a year whether they wanted to have sports gambling within their borders. If yes, they will be grandfathered in. Nevada had opted in allowing a plethora of gambling opportunities. Oregon, Montana, and Delaware asked for more limited options, and at the time, the remainder of states decided no gambling at all. (Richard Johnson)
Now currently, we have arrived at the new era in which the supreme court has allowed states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Delaware, Rhode Island, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Nevada with full scale legalized betting. New York and Arizona have recently passed a bill to enable them to join the other states. (ESPN)
Gambling will occur whether we like it or not regulated, or not. There may be some moral reasoning as to why states legally won’t condone it. Yet, it seems like it will continue to flourish the states that do, and those that aren’t riding the wave will be left behind.
Then bodes the question, will gambling be a part of the NCAA’s future?
Brett Smiley, former Fox Sports writer commented on this stating “They're against it, at least publicly, because there have been several instances of point-shaving or other forms of match-fixing in the past. But those instances are few and far between. Athletes, coaches, and everyone associated with programs are forbidden from betting on NCAA games, always have been.” Adding, “The NCAA concern is that student-athletes don't get paid anything and therefore would be more susceptible to taking money to point shave (allowing a better to cover the spread). Whereas pro athletes are earning millions for the most part and would be too difficult to pay off with so much at stake, monetarily.”
When Mr. Smiley was asked how ‘many experts believed that sports gambling has a great future in sports and why the NCAA doesn’t share this sentiment’. He replied by stating “With March Madness pools/brackets, almost all of them with money at stake, drives interest and viewership in the tournament. This is effectively gambling, a form of it. The NCAA already encourages it and makes billions from TV rights.” –Brett Smiley
The NCAA has now; Lifted its prohibition on holding championship events in Las Vegas, and cut a deal with Genius Sports – a company that provides sports betting services/data to sportsbooks. (Brett Smiley)
“The NCAA won't admit it -- but in the future, say 2-3 years, that deal will allow Genius to become an exclusive provider of NCAA data used for bookmaking purposes to sports books across the country. So the NCAA has quietly embraced this new era.” –Brett Smiley
A new era for sports gambling, one that the NCAA has done so much to avoid, yet, the dark cloud of gambling looms over the NCAA and don’t seem to dissipate anytime soon.
Nick Infante, Director of Sports Athletics Clips commented saying “Sports gambling has a great future.” then added, “However, there are huge differences between pro and college FB/BK betting.”
“Generally, pro players get paid a lot of money, they are adults (most of them) and there is far less of a chance that they can be ‘bought’ by nefarious gamblers… theoretically, they have enough money already.” –Nick Infante
“On the other hand, college players do not get paid a lot of money, they are in their young impressionable years, and they are far more likely to be ‘bought’ by gamblers who want to ‘throw games’.” Said Infante, “Remember, ‘throwing a game’ does not necessarily mean a player would deliberately lose. All they have to do is lose by 9 instead of by 6, and the bookie makes his money that way.”
Mr. Infante discussed how the NCAA as of now has made no effort to welcome gambling through its doors, and no interest in maintaining “integrity.” Adding that the NCAA is in a tough place, College gambling will occur whether the NCAA makes an effort to keep things on the up and up.
As of now, the future for gambling in the NCAA is uncertain. To the public, they stand firm in their notion to not allow gambling for the integrity of the sport. But the introduction of integrity fees to help monitor and regulate gambling may incite them to think twice.