The NCAA Division I Legislative Committee on Tuesday ratified guidelines that introduce more nuance to its punishment structure for student-athletes who violate the association's sports betting rules.
As reported by ESPN staff writer David Purdum, betting by student-athletes on any sport offered by the NCAA is prohibited and, in the past, resulted in a loss of a season of eligibility for the offending individual.
The new guidelines, announced Thursday, look like this, according to Purdum:
- Student-athletes found to have engaged in activities to influence the outcome of games they're involved with or provided information to individuals involved in betting will face a potential permanent loss of collegiate eligibility. The guideline applies to student-athletes who bet on their own games or on other sports at their own school.
- Student-athletes who bet on their own sport but not involving their school are subject to a potential loss of 50 percent of one season.
- For all other wagering-related violations, the cumulative dollar value of the wagers will be taken into consideration when determining the punishment. Bets totaling $201-$500, for example, could result in a loss of 10 percent of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education. Bets totaling more than $800 could result in a loss of 30 percent of a season of eligibility, plus rules and prevention education.
"These new guidelines modernize penalties for college athletes at a time when sports wagering has been legalized in dozens of states and is easily accessible nationwide with online betting platforms," Alex Ricker-Gilbert, athletic director at Jacksonville and chair of the Division I Legislative Committee, said in a release announcing the changes. "While sports wagering by college athletes is still a concern -- particularly as we remain committed to preserving the integrity of competition in college sports -- consideration of mitigating factors is appropriate as staff prescribe penalties for young people who have made mistakes in this space."
Thirty-eight states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have passed sports betting legislation within the past five years, Purdum reported. "As sports betting has spread around the nation, there has been an uptick in scandals involving collegiate athletes and coaches," he wrote. "In May, more than 40 student-athletes at the University of Iowa and Iowa State were found to have violated sports betting rules, and Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon was fired in May after being linked to suspicious betting activity on a Crimson Tide game against LSU in late April."
Related: Iowa Gaming Head: No Evidence of Match Fixing in Gambling Scandal
Related: Alabama Fires Baseball Coach Bohannon Amid Betting Scandal
Moreover, lack of transparency after merely discussing gambling cost two University of Cincinnati baseball officials their jobs last month.
Related: U. of Cincinnati Fires Two Baseball Officials for Failure to Report Gambling
