SEC urges NCAA to reverse Nov. 1 plan to permit betting on pro sports

Betting on pro sports was illegal for college athletes, but that's set to change thanks to the NCAA approval of the proposal taking effect Nov. 1.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey voiced his concern to the NCAA in a letter sent last week, informing president Charlie Baker the member institutions were "united" in his message over two-pages detailing his request for a reversal of the plan.

"The SEC's Presidents and Chancellors believe the NCAA should restore its prior policy -- or a modified policy -- communicating a prohibition on gambling by student-athletes and athletics staff, regardless of the divisional level of their sport," Sankey wrote in the letter.

A 16-member board of directors is scheduled to meet Tuesday for an existing date to discuss other business, but the agenda is now expected to include whether the approved proposal should be paused.

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi also finds fault with the decision, which has no impact on a standing ban on college athletes betting on college sports.

"It's absolutely one of the stupidest decisions I've ever seen," Narduzzi said. "First of all, it's a habit. It's no different than smoking, drinking, doing drugs, it's a bad habit. I don't think anyone here encourages you guys to go out drinking and getting smashed on a Friday night or Saturday night, or at a ballgame."

Athletes and members of athletic staff received the OK to place bets on professional sports earlier this month. The councils for Division II and Division III athletes followed suit, adopting the same policy last week.

Illinois athletic director Josh Wittman, who played football for the Illini, said the concerns of the Division I council were outweighed by the desire to bring the chance for the sake of aligning athletes "with their campus peers."

The news was overshadowed by the federal charges levied Oct. 23 against NBA head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and others in a complex gambling ring that allegedly involved the use of inside information to benefit an organized crime circuit that include members of the mafia.

"I'm not a gambler. So I just don't understand it," Narduzzi said. "I'm not addicted to anything. I just don't think it's a great thing to teach our young people how to do. It's hard enough in the compliance office of trying to get your guys not to gamble -- you can gamble at a boxing match, you can gamble on horse races because it's not an NCAA sport, but who's really gambling on horse races, really, unless you go to the track? You can go to the casino and play craps or whatever you'd want to play.

"But now, it's a thing on your phone. You can pick it up, get on an app, and it's like ... what are we doing? Once you do it once and you win, you want to do it again. It becomes an addiction. I just think it's not good."

At Big East Media Days last week, NCAA president Charlie Baker said integrity would remain a strength of the institution.

"We run the largest integrity program in the world on sports betting across all the various games," Baker said.

In 2023, Ohio State's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery launched the Collegiate Problem Gambling Workgroup to develop and rapidly expand virtually non-existent campus tools for identifying and addressing problem gambling. Resources have not advanced nationwide as problem gambling and addiction increases.

An estimated 1 in 10 college students has experienced what could be defined as pathological or problem gambling, which typically leads to financial stress. the National Council on Problem Gambling estimated 6% of all current college students has a gambling problem, or double the national average for adults.

CPGW executive director Jim Lange said the heightened financial stress becomes a "barrier to completing a college degree" and can be a risk factor for "suicidal ideation."

--Field Level Media