Buckeye Insider – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | General
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%^$Gambling and sport wagering by college students is a great concern for the NCAA and its member institutions. The explosive growth of gambling has caused a noticeable increase in the number of sports wagering-related cases processed by the NCAA and threatens the integrity of college sports. There are many reasons why gambling has become such a phenomenon on college campuses. One reason is the accessibility of the internet to students. In 1999, there was a reported 250 online casino sites and 139 online sports books. Now, there are over 2,500 websites offering on-line gambling, and typically these websites only require a user to possess a credit card in order to create an account and begin gambling. Another reason for the increase in gambling is the number of student bookies on college campuses. Because gambling can be seen as an easy money maker and a potentially lucrative business, students involve themselves in sports wagering operations. According to the NCAA, student-athletes are viewed by organized crime and gambling as targets because student-athletes have access to information about a student-athlete’s athletic status, eligibility status, and performance during practice, among other things that assist bookmakers in setting point spreads. Student-athletes can be asked or persuaded to affect the outcome of the game (e.g., point-shaving). When student-athletes place bets with a bookie, they jeopardize their welfare and athletic eligibility.%^$
%^$The NCAA opposes all forms of sports wagering. According to the NCAA, “sport competition should be appreciated for the inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches, and institution in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.” In an effort to avoid such predicaments, the NCAA has adopted rules prohibiting student-athletes, coaches and all athletics department staff members from engaging in gambling activities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional events. NCAA Bylaw 10.3 states:%^$
%^$NCAA Bylaw 10.3: Gambling Activities
%^$Staff members of a member conference, staff members of the athletics department of a member institution and student-athletes shall not knowingly:
%^$a) Provide information to individuals involved in organized gambling activities concerning intercollegiate athletics competition,
%^$b) Solicit a bet on any intercollegiate team,
%^$c) Accept a bet on any team representing the institution,
%^$d) Solicit or accept a bet on any intercollegiate competition for any item (e.g., cash, shirt, dinner) that has tangible value, or
%^$e) Participate in any gambling activity that involves intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card or any other method employed by organized gambling.
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%^$Below are pertinent questions and answers focusing on gambling activities and NCAA regulations:%^$
%^$Q: What is the penalty for a student-athlete placing a bet on an athletic competition involving his institution or engaging in activities designed to influence the outcome of any intercollegiate athletic contest?
%^$A.: According to NCAA Bylaw 10.3.1 (a): a student-athlete who engages in activities designed to influence the outcome of an intercollegiate contest or in an effort to affect win-loss margins (i.e., “point shaving”) or who solicits or accepts a bet or participates in any gambling activity through a bookmaker, a parlay card or any other method employed by organized gambling that involves wagering on the student-athletes institution shall permanently lose all eligibility in all sports.%^$
%^$Q: What is the penalty for a student-athlete placing a bet on a professional athletic event or on an intercollegiate athletic event not involving his team?
%^$A: According to NCAA Bylaw 10.3.1 (b): A student-athlete who solicits or accepts a bet or participates in any gambling activities that involves intercollegiate athletics or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card or any other method employed by organized gambling, shall be ineligible for all regular-season and postseason competition for a minimum of a period of one year from the date of the institution’s determination of the violation.%^$
%^$Q: Are student-athletes permitted to accept bets for clothing, food, and other nonmonetary items?
%^$A: Student-athletes are prohibited from soliciting or accepting bets for nonmonetary material items that have any tangible value (e.g., shoes, food, cars).%^$
%^$Q: How prevalent is gambling on college campuses?
%^$A: In 1998, an NCAA-sponsored study by the University of Cincinnati found that of 648 Division I intercollegiate men’s basketball and football respondents, 25.5% indicated that they had gambled on college sporting events, 3.7% had gambled on a game in which they had played, and that 0.5% received money from a gambler for not playing well in a game. A 1999 University of Michigan survey of 758 student-athletes indicated that: 57 had made bets of more than $100, 8 had made bets of more than $500, 18 missed class for gambling-related reasons, 2 missed practice or competition for gambling-related reasons, 15 used scholarship checks to pay gambling debts, 7 used student loans to pay gambling debt, 5 maintained lines of credit with a bookie or casino, and 2 borrowed money from coaches.%^$
%^$Q: How much money is gambled on intercollegiate athletics?
%^$A: According to the NCAA, the FBI projected that 2.5 billion dollars was illegally gambled on the 1995 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, second only to the National Football League’s Superbowl.%^$
%^$Q: How prevalent is gambling on collegiate athletics?
%^$A: An article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal stated that gamblers wagered about 2.3 billion dollars in Nevada sports books in 1998. Between 24 and 31% of that total was bet on college athletics.%^$
%^$Please remember that the above information provides a brief overview of the compliance issues concerning gambling and sports wagering and is not an exhaustive discussion. For questions or to receive more information, please contact Heather Lyke, Associate Athletics Director for Compliance at (614) 292-2681.%^$
