The NCAA is considering yet again changing its penalties for student-athletes who engage in sports betting, potentially lessening penalties for those who bet on games not involving their own team, the organization announced Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- The NCAA approved a new structure in June that included losing one half-season of eligibility for betting on your own sport involving another school, then a tiered system of lesser penalties for other kinds of bets, depending on the dollar amount.
- Student-athletes at Iowa and Iowa State were charged and/or suspended over the summer for various sports betting, some involving their own team but some not.
- New consideration could remove any suspension penalty on a first offense for sports betting not involving one’s own team.
- The NCAA said it will push for changes to existing sports betting laws, including rules to “protect student-athletes from harassment and coercion.”
Why is this happening now?
One of the first things new NCAA president Charlie Baker wanted to address upon taking the job was legalized sports betting and its impact on college sports. The NCAA conducted two surveys of college-aged people and collegiate student-athletes to get a sense of the landscape. The penalties announced in the summer were a…
