COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Big changes are coming to college athletics gambling rules.
On Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Administrative Committee approved a proposal that would allow student-athletes and athletic department staff to place bets on professional sports.
The rule change must be approved by all three NCAA divisions. Divisions II and III are expected to consider the proposal during their respective meetings at the end of October. If all three divisions approve, the rule change would take effect Nov. 1.
The decision comes as legalized sports betting is just months away from launching in Missouri. It also marks a departure from the NCAA’s hard-line stance against any form of sports betting.
The Southeastern Conference currently requires schools to use Prohibet, which monitors unethical or illegal gambling activity. In March, the University of Texas athletic department self-reported five NCAA violations dating back to 2024 that were flagged by ProhiBet, involving two football players, a tennis staff member, a student assistant and an athletic department employee.
Pamela Bruzina, a professor and faculty athletics representative to the NCAA for the University of Missouri, told ABC 17 News in an email the rule change won’t affect the use of Prohibet. She added the university has had discussions regarding the legalization of sports betting in Missouri, but those talks have focused on education.
According to a release from the NCAA, its enforcement staff has seen a rise in sports betting cases in recent years, most involving conduct that affects the integrity of college sports. The NCAA monitors more than 22,000 college games each year using a layered strategy and integrity monitoring services to detect unusual betting activity.
“Abstinence-only approaches to social challenges for college-aged individuals are often not as successful as approaches that focus on education about risks and open dialogue,” Dr. Deena Casiero, NCAA chief medical officer, said in the release. “The NCAA will continue to collaborate with schools to help them provide student-athletes with meaningful education and other resources for student-athletes who choose to participate in betting on professional sports. This harm reduction approach gives schools an opportunity to help student-athletes make educated decisions, prevent risky behavior and seek support without fear of impacting their eligibility.”
In September, the NCAA Committee on Infractions released its first cases involving former men’s basketball student-athletes at Fresno State who bet on their own games and, in some instances, manipulated outcomes for sports betting purposes. The enforcement staff is also pursuing similar allegations against 13 student-athletes from Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley, with additional investigations ongoing.
“The enforcement staff continues to investigate and resolve cases involving sports betting quickly but thoroughly,” said Jon Duncan, NCAA vice president of enforcement in the release. “Enforcement staff are investigating a significant number of cases that are specifically relevant to the NCAA’s mission of fair competition, and our focus will remain on those cases and those behaviors that impact the integrity of college sports most directly.”