Current NCAA rules deemed “ineffective” in preventing student-athlete gambling 

The Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport (CSMAS) committee has claimed the current sports betting rules enforced by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are “ineffective.” 

CSMAS members held an informal meeting in Indianapolis earlier this month to mull over the possible deregulation of sports betting to permit student-athletes to place wagers on professional sports.  

The meeting comes while all three divisions of the NCAA hold discussions of its own on the same issue. 

Current rules outline that if the NCAA sponsors a sport, any student-athlete within that sport is not allowed to bet on professional, intercollegiate, or other amateur competitions relating to the activity.

However, the NCAA requested initial feedback from CSMAS regarding the potential health, safety and wellbeing considerations that would come with the deregulation on student-athletes betting. 

Those considerations included whether policy prohibitions have the desired effect on preventing gambling disorders, as well as whether the regulation currently enforced by the NCAA has successfully prevented student-athletes from sports betting. 

CSMAS members also weighed up what the most effective policies are in terms of preventing problem or disordered gambling, as well as how to construct successful educational programs on the harms surrounding gambling. 

Ultimately, CSMAS has already noted there is little evidence to suggest the current regulation in place has been effective when it comes to preventing student-athletes from gambling. 

The organization also found that often prohibiting gambling is not an effective way of preventing harmful betting behaviors.

CSMAS placed significant emphasis on harm-reduction strategies, such as the way schools can spot the signs of gambling harms early and create a referral and treatment pathway. 

The NCAA has confirmed talks between the organization and CMAS are expected to continue over the course of the month. 

This latest development comes just under a year after the NCAA amended its rules for student-athletes placing bets on other teams within their own school. 

Following a full review, the college sport’s governing body opted to relax the regulations and permit students who had previously been punished for placing sports bets to return to playing for their respective college team. 

However, those rules do not apply to students who wagered on their own team, in which case the penalty remains permanent loss of collegiate eligibility.