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.

Big money attracts organized crime and illegal sports wagering is big money. 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. Money skimmed from sports betting schemes is used to fund a host of illegal activities including the sale of narcotics and loan sharking. These activities are never evident to the casual bettor but are not lost on the law enforcement community.

Student-athletes are viewed by organized crime and organized gambling as easy marks. When student-athletes place bets with a bookie, they have jeopardized their eligibility and have broken the law. The bookie now is in control. If a student-athlete is sufficiently indebted or addicted, point shaving often is introduced as a way out. Bookies also use students as "runners" to collect debts and parlay sheets for which the bookie pays a commission. Gamblers also pay a commission for information related to sports teams (e.g., injury reports, morale, game plans and discipline issues).

A study by the University of Cincinnati of 648 Division I intercollegiate men's basketball and football respondents indicated that 25.5% had gambled money on other college sporting events, 3.7% had gambled money on a game in which they had played, and that 0.5% received money from a gambler for not playing well in a game.

The NCAA's Position on Sports Wagering The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering. Sports wagering has the potential to undermine the integrity of sports contests, and jeopardizes the welfare of student-athletes and the intercollegiate athletics community. Sports wagering demeans the competition and competitors alike by a message that is contrary to the purposes and meaning of "sport." Sports competition should be appreciated for the inherent benefits related to participation of student-athletes, coaches and institutions in fair contests, not the amount of money wagered on the outcome of the competition.

For these reasons, the NCAA membership adopted NCAA Bylaw 10.3 prohibiting athletics department staff members and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activities as they relate to intercollegiate or professional sporting events.

NCAA Bylaw 10.3 stipulates that staff members of the athletics department of a member institution and student-athletes shall not knowingly:

Provide information to individuals involved in organized gambling activities concerning intercollegiate athletics competition;
Solicit a bet on any intercollegiate team;
Accept a bet on any team representing the institution;
Solicit or accept a bet on any intercollegiate competition for any item (e.g., cash, shirt, dinner) that has tangible value; or
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.

The NCAA's Interpretations Committee clarified the scope of Bylaw 10.3 to preclude a student-athlete from soliciting or accepting a bet for a nonmonetary material item that has tangible value. The committee noted, however, that institutions that compete against each other may agree to participate for a tangible item (e.g., governors cup), provided no student-athletes receive any tangible item.

The Interpretations Committee also decided that the prohibition against student-athletes and athletics department staff members participating in gambling activities associated with professional sports events is applicable to those sports in which the Association conducts championship competition, Division I-A football and emerging sports.

In June 1995, the NCAA Eligibility Committee, determined that higher conditions for restoration of eligibility should occur in cases involving gambling and instructed NCAA eligibility staff to begin imposing such standards immediately. Accordingly, the staff reviews prior case precedent from June 1995 to the present in determining the appropriate conditions for restoration involving such cases.

NCAA Initiatives In response to this problem, the NCAA has enhanced communication lines with the FBI, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball in sharing pertinent information related to gambling and organized crime. Recently, the professional leagues, in conjunction with the FBI, produced a videotape entitled "Gambling With Your Life", which as proved to be an outstanding tool to educate professional athletes of the pitfalls associated with gambling generally and sports gambling specifically, and also provided a meaningful forum that the professional leagues used to solicit information about persons with possible ties to organized gambling. The NCAA uses this professional-league videotape to educate our member schools' student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrators. The Association also is producing brochures and posters in an effort to bring the message to the schools about sports gambling.

Gambling On College Sports: The NCAA's Solution Is Part Of The Problem

By Marc Isenberg

The NCAA is worried that increased gambling on college sports will result in point-shaving or fixed games. They want to prevent that because it will harm athletes, and the ensuing public disenchantment will diminish the value of their nationally televised product.

The NCAA's solution is to lobby congress to ban wagering on college sports in Nevada-the one state in which it is legal. Studies have shown that for every dollar bet on sports in Vegas, $100 is bet with bookies and on the Internet. The NCAA claims that legal gambling on college sports legitimizes illegal gambling because bettors cannot distinguish one from the other. Apparently the NCAA believes these same bettors would grasp the moral distinction between gambling on pro sports and "amateur" sports.

It is naïve to think that banning legal betting on college sports in one state will drive 1,400 Internet gambling sites and tens of thousands of local bookies out of business. In the event that such legislation passed, all it would do is push the legal tip of the college sports gambling iceberg underwater, where it would be invisible, as in the other 49 states.

Such a law would not make it more difficult to fix games, as the NCAA suggests. It would make it harder to detect fixes. In 1994, Nevada gambling authorities noticed unexpectedly high betting on an Arizona State vs. Washington State basketball game. They alerted the FBI; the resulting investigation led to the conviction of the gamblers and athletes who participated in the point shaving. If all sports betting were with illegal bookies and offshore Web sites rather than with highly regulated Nevada casinos, evidence of fixes would be less apparent to law enforcement authorities. Most bookmakers hate fixes. They set points spreads or odds to balance bets, and thrive on the percentage they take off the top. But illegal bookies or sites operating offshore to evade US wire laws are hardly in position to complain to the FBI.

Part of the reason the NCAA has the wrong solution is that they cannot grasp the real problem, because they are part of it. In congressional testimony the NCAA says it "opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering." But CBS, which accounts for nearly 90% of the NCAA's yearly operating revenue, profits from the growth of sports gambling. During its broadcasts of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, CBS repeatedly pointed viewers to CBS.Sportsline.com, in which it has a 20% ownership stake. CBS.Sportsline.com offered a free "Bracket Pool Manager," a sophisticated web-based software application which streamlines the administration of NCAA Basketball Tournament pools.

CBS.Sportsline doesn't take bets, but there is nothing you can do with the Bracket Pool Manager other than gamble. Its interactive form even has a built-in dollar sign to designate the costs of entering the pool. There was a minimum age to enter-13. And they don't ask for proof of age. While the NCAA warns congressman of the evils of Las Vegas, CBS legitimizes gambling for millions of kids (including current and future NCAA athletes). CBS.Sportsline.com in turn owns Las Vegas Sports Consultants. Some authorities estimate that over 80% of Las Vegas sportsbooks subscribe to "the line" (odds, point spreads, over/unders, and so on) set by this firm. Most bookies and online gambling sites use the same line.

Recently, the NCAA considered denying credentials to media outlets which abet the gambling industry by publishing betting lines on college sports. The NCAA decided instead to stay in bed with these newspapers and continue to garner free publicity for NCAA-sanctioned events.

The NCAA owes it to athletes and fans to first clean its own house, then invest in a major effort to educate athletes about the dangers of the gambling epidemic, rather than sink millions of dollars in a counterproductive lobbying effort. Such a campaign, to be successful, should extend to the general student population, because athletes are unlikely to be an island of abstinence in a sea of betting. And it should extend to high schools: most students get initiated into gambling by age 14. Kids must learn about the dangers of gambling, including the impossibility of winning over the long run and the potential for damage to self, family, friends, teammates, and career.

The NCAA cannot even begin to educate athletes and other students-or even congress-until it does the following:
1) demand that CBS cut its ties with CBS.Sportsline.com and Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which are a major part of the infrastructure of gambling on college sports
2) prohibit corporate partners from using bracket promotions or contests connected to the outcome of games
3) refuse to credential media outlets who publish lines and accept ads from tout services
4) fund a gambling education program on college campuses that addresses the problem of gambling, not just point shaving.

Can the NCAA tear itself away from its "Show me the money" outlook to conduct such a campaign? If not, colleges themselves must undertake it, to do right by their students and to protect themselves from scandal and possible legal liability.

2001 Marc Isenberg and A-Game.com

Marc Isenberg speaks on high school and college campuses about gambling and its potential dangers. He is the co-author of "The Money Sucker Machine: The Truth about Gambling and How It Affects Students' Lives," and co-founder of A-Game.com, a Website for the sports community.