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The NCAA has a long and storied history of making life unnecessarily difficult for the student-athletes under its watch, and it’s pretty rare to see the organization announce a decision that seems rooted in common sense. However, it’s done exactly that by reevaluating its stance on players who are caught betting on sports.
Millions of Americans have seized on the opportunity to get in on the action now that most states have legalized sports betting, but if you play a sport people can wager on, you need to be aware of the rules and regulations you’re expected to abide by.
One of the biggest sins an athlete can commit is placing a wager concerning the team they play for. Going against your own squad is obviously the reddest of the red flags, and while you could argue there’s nothing wrong with literally betting on yourself, virtually every governing body in existence has rules against that particular practice.
The ethics get a bit murkier when it comes to throwing money down on teams and sports you don’t have any affiliation with, but the NCAA has nonetheless taken a very firm stance against that practice by threatening student-athletes with the permanent loss of eligibility if they wager on any college games.
According to CBS Sports, that will no longer be the case thanks to a new set of guidelines that were rolled out earlier this week.
While the NCAA has made it clear it still doesn’t want players betting on sports at the college level, it’s opted to reduce the harshness of the punishments that will be doled out if an athlete gets caught breaking the rules, including:
- Betting on another team at the school a player attends: a one-year suspension and the loss of a year of eligibility
- Betting on the sport you play at another school: suspended for half of a season
- Betting on any other sports: ranging from a mandatory “gambling education” class to a suspension for 30% of the season depending on how much money was involved
Betting on any contest involving your own team is still the ultimate no-no, as it will result in a permanent ban.
The easiest way for student-athletes to avoid getting in trouble is to resist the urge to bet until they’re out of school, but there’s only so much you can do to prevent college kids from making poor decisions. As a result, the NCAA deserves some credit for being willing to give some players a second chance.