The Uneasy Relationship Between College Sports and Legal Sports Betting

For decades, the number one reason cited in the argument against the legalization of sports betting in the U.S. was the potential for the corruption of college sports. The assumption was that financially strained and vulnerable college athletes would be susceptible to outside interference from the rogue sports gambling community.

Regardless of prior positions related to college sports and sports gambling, legalized sports gambling is now a reality in more than 30 states. Furthermore, most of those states do permit sports wagering on in-state college sports teams.

Recently, the Mid-American Conference (MAC), as a whole, voted to jump into the U.S. sports betting fray. They did so by licensing access to the conference’s data and statistics to a company called Genius Sports. Genius Sports is a publicly-held sports data and technology company that provides data management services to bookmakers, sports leagues, and sports media companies. This information is typically used to create sports betting lines and to inform viewers about statistics during media broadcasts.

This is the NCAA’s first foray into the U.S. sports betting community. It has been lagging behind major professional sports leagues like the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA in terms of signing partnerships and sponsorships deals with U.S. gambling interests.

Protecting the Integrity of College Sports

Concerns regarding the corruption of college sports have not dissipated since sports betting was legalized in the U.S. With that said, college sports representatives have shown a desire to accept that sports betting is here to stay. As NCAA sports leagues and conferences sign sports betting partnership deals, there is an understanding that said leagues and conferences have a fiduciary responsibility to put integrity measures in place.

According to Matthew Holt of US Integrity (sports watchdog for gambling improprieties): “They were able to turn the other way before and say, ‘Oh, that’s all happening over here.’ But the second you’re directly getting paid from sports betting, it also comes with some responsibilities.”

With U.S. bookmakers looking at more than $125 billion in sports betting handle for 2022, sports betting is big business. It’s important to note that the NCAA’s 2022 March Madness basketball tournament produced $20 billion in handle on its own. Even more startling is the fact that college basketball on any given regular season Saturday will bring in more handle than a typical slate of Sunday NFL games.

Keeping in mind that the MAC is getting somewhere south of $1.5 million for its Genius Sports deal, the potential for major conferences like the Bit 10, Pac 12, and SEC is well above $10 million a year. There is a lot of money on the line across the board.

Perhaps the biggest concern comes from potential conflicts of interest. Currently, NCAA teams are not required to release injury or disciplinary information prior to game time. If interested parties have a gambling affiliation with college sports leagues or conferences, there is a chance the exchange of information between the leagues/conferences and outside parties could create issues.

College sports is entering a new era and it might be time to realign rules that factor in the availability of legalized sports betting in the U.S.