NCAA Athletes Betting On Sports Still a Concern
It has been a rough few months when it comes to NCAA athletes and them participating in illegal sports betting. The biggest scandals came from Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, but this is definitely happening in other states around the country.
Severe punishments were handed down to a number of athletes that were found to be gambling illegally, and the hope is that those will prevent this from happening in the future. Just in case the threat of suspensions weren’t enough, both the Big 12 Conference and the state of Iowa are looking to have a plan in place.
Sportsbooks are also trying to be more vigilant in the future, but it will be nearly impossible to stop all of the illegal activity that takes place.
Rule Change Could Come to Iowa
The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission participated in the investigation into these illegal wagers, and it noticed that a trend had developed. Most of the illegal wagers had been placed by a family member of an athlete, and the initial rules appeared to be a little unclear.
The IRGC has now announced that all sportsbooks must display a notice that reads “account sharing is prohibited.” Not only that, but operators are also going to be required to post a notice that reads “persons under the age of 21 are prohibited from wagering.”
Iowa athletes were trying to go unnoticed by paying family members and then telling them what to wager on. This action has always been prohibited, but the IRGC wants to make it known that this goes against the rules that are signed when agreeing to the terms and conditions.
Some of the bets that were placed were made by those under 21 years of age, and sportsbooks are going to need to step up their policies on checking for age. Not only will most of these players be prohibited from every playing in an NCAA contest again, but they could also be facing jail time.
Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers will be forced to miss the season for the Cyclones and his charges could come with two years in prison.
Big 12 Hires New Partner
Even though the Big 12 Conference was just one of two conferences impacted by the scandal, it has made the first move in trying to clean things up. The Big 12 Conference has announced that it will be partnering with US Integrity, and that company will be monitoring the betting action on games featuring this league.
This is not the first time that US Integrity has worked with the Big 12 as the monitoring company has been visiting campuses this summer and speaking to student athletes. Education is a key component to fighting illegal sports betting, and that’s what US Integrity is hoping to bring.
The technology that will actually be powering the monitoring software is Prohibet, and it will be available to schools and league officials to follow. If anything unusual pops up throughout the year, the Big 12 Conference will look to stop the action immediately.
