Quite the story appeared yesterday:
The state’s Board of Regents said Monday that it is aware of an ongoing investigation related to allegations of online sports gambling by athletes at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, which would be a violation of NCAA rules.
“The Board of Regents and the universities will fully cooperate with any investigations related to these concerns,” the Regents told the Des Moines Register in a statement. “We are closely monitoring the situation and have confidence that university administrators at each institution will take all necessary steps to ensure ongoing compliance.”
The University of Iowa said in a Monday-afternoon statement that 111 individuals had been flagged in the investigation, including 26 student-athletes in baseball, football, men’s basketball, men’s track and field and wrestling, plus one full-time employee in the UI athletics department.
… Iowa State confirmed that “approximately 15” student-athletes from football, wrestling and track and field may have violated NCAA rules.
“Iowa State University and its Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is aware of online sports wagering allegations involving approximately 15 of our active student-athletes from the sports of football, wrestling and track & field in violation of NCAA rules. The university has notified the NCAA and will take the appropriate actions to resolve these issues,” the ISU statement said.
Helluva daily double you got yourself there, Iowa.
Look, I’m not naive. Gambling by athletes is hardly a recent development. There have been gambling related scandals that have run the gamut of organized sports for at least a century in the country, if not longer. Nor is it new to the college level. There were point shaving affairs that seriously impacted college basketball in the ’40s and ’50s.
What is new is the level of ease and acceptance of sports betting now. You don’t have to go to Vegas, or find a neighborhood bookie any more, just dial up an app on your phone and place your bet. And whatever stigma was attached to gambling on games has surely been diluted by the way the gaming industry has been embraced by sports leagues and schools.
All of which leaves the NCAA in a bit of a pickle. Yes, there are rules and regulations about coaches and players gambling, but it’s awkward at best to be threatening in one breath and extending a welcoming hand to the industry in the next. And I’m not saying the threats are wrong! I don’t see where the NCAA has a choice but to crack down hard on this stuff. It’s easy to talk about things like players’ unions and playoff expansion being an existential threat to college athletics, but those pale in comparison to an end game where the public loses confidence in the games being played fairly.
Whether this is a one-off situation, or the tip of the iceberg, I can’t say. Either way, I just don’t know if the NCAA has it in them to keep the barbarians at bay. It’s not like they’ve had a sterling record with other things lately.
Get The Picture 
So if it happens at Drake, does anyone have that as a parley?
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Actually if it someone is betting onDrake that is the big red flag that something is up.
The whole reason the Alabama baseball thing was tipped was that the bettor went into the sports book at Great American Ballpark (ironic isn’t it?) and laid down a bet on the Bama/LSU baseball game. College baseball is a minimal bet sport anyway so someone coming in to place to “large” bets on that game was already unusual – I don’t think they had another bet at GAB for the game.
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Supposedly the security camera at the ballpark caught the man in question’s cellphone where he was on a call with the Bama coach prior to the bet.
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I have great faith in the NCAA = they’ll screw this up too…
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I miss the good ole days when UF’s top two qbs placed bets with an Athens frat boy and got suspended for the Georgia game.
17-10 bitches!
It would be awhile before there was joy in Jax once again…
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Excellent analysis Senator.
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At least with gambling they have resources outside the association to help. That’s got to help their cause and speed up the punishment stage.
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The schools have much more incentive to remove players that violate gambling laws/rules than NCAA rules. They definitely made an example of the Bama coach for a reason.
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Every single team has players gambling. Probably not on their own games, but gambling on their own sport, on teams on their schedule. It’s almost like insider trading. And these kids have a little disposable money to wager if they want. So does uncle Bob.
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It isn’t much of a stretch to think that if an Iowa football player is betting on some random baseball game in the spring between Wisconsin and Ohio State knowing the rules against betting by college athletes, there isn’t any reason to doubt that the same Iowa football player is betting on an Iowa baseball game tomorrow after his buddy on the team told him today that they are going to have to throw a bullpen game because their ace has undisclosed shoulder inflammation.
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No doubt…many folks would prefer an unfair advantage
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If the NCAA rules that players can’t gamble (to whatever degree and conditions), will the prohibition stand up in court? If players were employees, I’m pretty certain the answer would be affirmative – but the NCAA has fought long and hard against such a characterization.
Also, focusing on the players accounts for only a third (or less) of the potential problem. Logically, wouldn’t officials, coaches and people directly associated with a program be subject to the same rules? “NCAA” and “logic” are diametrically opposed terms but there are more ways to shave points and fix games than players alone are capable of.
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Thinking about how easily accessible gambling is now, I wish it weren’t so just because I’m tired of seeing so many damn ads for it when I open up my phone. I’ve never been a gambler, online or otherwise, so I really don’t need to see a bunch of ads for Fanduel or whatever.
And now I’m going to go yell at some kids to get off my lawn…
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Of course the NCAA and the college presidents are the ones you want to go into combat with. (Snicker)
As Ranger Russ might say “Gotdamn hippies!”
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I had an old school combat vet as a CO in the Guard. His no-nonsense approach to combat was to just go on and shoot some of the boys at the first opportunity rather than have them fuck it all up for everybody.
I’m thinking the NCAA types and college presidents get a bullet in the head from the hatchet man.
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I read there’s a fairly limited segment of society that’s interested in gaming. So the gaming industry’s problem is to develop a wider market. I would assume jocks of all sports would be high on that marketing efforts list.
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Get ready – there’s a lot of young athletes that now have money to bet – and they will. No school will be immune.
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A long listen but pretty good information on how they flagged the Alabama/LSU baseball bet and how the gambling industry is at the forefront of catching these things.
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ESPNU was talking about this yesterday. They gave a statistic for a study that showed 75% of college students had placed a bet on something in the last year.
From Debt.org
About 75% of college students have gambled in the last year, and 6% of young adults have a gambling problem— a higher rate than adults— according to the National Center for Responsible Gaming.
I suspect that if this is true, then you could pretty much suspend every team in every sport.
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The rules should be simple.
Bet all you want to, just nit on your team.
Passing confidential info along to another person to bet us a different story
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This is the opening salvo in Iowa getting rid of Ferentz.
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Gambling has always been a huge no-no in the world of college sports. Back when I was an umpire (NJCAA and NCAA D2), I refused to join $20 March madness pools with my friends simply on the off chance that someone could find out and end my career as a sports official.
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Rick Neuheisel says hello.
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Well we all knew it was going to happen, what with every other commercial being for betting. Hypocrisy thy name is NCAA. If a player bets on his own team or an opponent in a game then it’s the Pete Rose rule; the player is out of NCAA team sport. If he bets on pro sports or on not his sport then suspend him a couple of games. Do not punish the team for it.
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I don’t know that it’s so hard. Just follow the NFL’s lead. They’ll take your advert dollars then ban their employees from your product and won’t bat an eye.
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NCAA: ” Hey, I know, let have the government take over the gambling industry. Or something. Something, something….”
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