NCAA D-III Council Approves Deregulation of Professional Sports Wagering

During its two-day virtual meeting last week, the Division III Management Council took action to support, in concept, noncontroversial legislation deregulating betting on professional sports. 

Additionally, the council directed staff to develop concepts for the appropriate Division III committees regarding a safe harbor, limited immunity or reduced penalties for student-athletes who engage in prohibited sports betting but seek help for problem gambling. 

"Exploring the concept of a safe harbor or limited immunity for student-athletes involved with sports betting reaffirms that harm reduction and education will continue to be paramount. We are seeking to deregulate betting on professional sports because we believe it will be more likely that student-athletes and staff will seek help for problem gambling," said Jason Verdugo, chair of the council and athletics director at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. 

Eligibility pilot waiver program 

In other action, the council recommended to the Presidents Council a waiver pilot program that would permit Division III student-athletes, pursuant to specific criteria, to continue to represent their school in intercollegiate competition while enrolled at another school that has a formal academic agreement with their school and does not sponsor varsity athletics. 

This pilot program will offer expanded pathways for student-athletes to pursue their academic objectives and complete their participation opportunity. 

The Presidents Council will consider the recommendation and take final action during its meeting later this month. If the program is approved, schools could submit waiver requests for the 2025-26 academic year.

Coaches Connect Program

The Management Council approved a request to establish a Coaches Connect Program. The program seeks to enhance communication, engagement and education of Division III coaches in governance and championships. The program's mission is to prepare coaches to make informed decisions and collaborate with athletics administrators and their conference office.

The program would have a head coach representative from each conference that sponsors the sport, the NCAA Division III championships manager, sport and rules committee members, a Championships Committee representative, a Division III academic and membership affairs staff member, and a coach's association representative. 

The program will be implemented for three sports in 2025-26. Four videoconferences will be held between September and June to discuss issues relevant to that sport. 

Legislative actions

The Management Council considered several legislative recommendations. It approved the Interpretations and Legislation Committee's recommendation for noncontroversial legislation that aligns major junior ice hockey participation with other preenrollment participation.

Additionally, the council approved a request by the Committee on Women's Athletics to sponsor legislation for the 2026 NCAA Convention to add women's flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program. 

The Management Council also agreed that changes to Bylaw 16 are appropriate to enhance the student-athlete experience, increase flexibility and reduce an administrative burden at Division III colleges and universities. Accordingly, the council sponsored a 2026 Convention proposal that would permit schools to provide expenses for practice sessions at any location, provided the student-athlete is eligible and no class is missed.

The council also approved, in concept, the following noncontroversial proposals:

• To clarify that student-athletes may receive expenses to attend a recognition banquet and receive an award at that banquet.
• To permit a school to provide meals to student-athletes not on a meal plan in the same manner as those on a meal plan when meals are missed for practice activities or during a vacation period.
• To permit a student-athlete or team to receive an occasional meal, at any location, from an institutional staff member, a relative of a student-athlete or booster.
• To permit schools to issue nonathletics apparel, pursuant to institutional policy.
• To permit student-athletes to retain their athletics apparel and equipment, consistent with institutional policy.
• To consolidate bylaws addressing academic, career and other support services and clarify that institutional policy is the standard to determine the permissibility of such programming.
• To deregulate legislation about financial donations from outside organizations and allow for schools and conferences to pursue partnerships and sponsorships with professional sports organizations.

The council will consider adopting these noncontroversial proposals in final format during its July meeting.

Federated playing rules process

The Management Council approved a process to implement legislation adopted by the membership at the 2025 Convention that provides the council with the authority to exempt Division III from a newly adopted playing rule.