Why college athletes are unaware of legal issues when betting

Saturday, May 18, 2024 2:38 PM
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  • Paula Lavigne and Shwetha Surendran, ESPN

The spread of sports betting poses new legal risks for college athletes in states where gambling is allowed, but an ESPN analysis has found that most university athletic departments in those states typically don’t address the new legal pitfalls.

Using public records requested by the Student Press Law Center, ESPN reviewed sports-betting policies at 24 Power 5 public universities in states that had mobile sports betting by the end of 2023 and found that only four schools had policies that explicitly warn student-athletes of potential legal consequences.

While college athletes have long faced losing NCAA eligibility for betting on sports, the legal risks are new since the advent of legalized betting six years ago.