The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is responding to an increase in betting on college sports.
The Power Four conference has announced the requirement of member institutions to provide public injury reports for football, baseball, and men’s and women’s basketball. The SEC joins the Big Ten and Mid-American Conference as competitions mandating up-to-date injury reports. The move is to protect student-athletes from gambling-related harm.
The SEC is requiring member institutions to provide injury reports starting with the upcoming football season, which kicks off for the conference on Saturday, Aug. 31.
“This availability reporting policy is intended to reduce pressure from outside entities seeking participation information and represents a commitment of our 16 institutions to provide enhanced transparency to support efforts to protect our student-athletes and the integrity of competition,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
The SEC is requiring football programs in the conference to submit injury reports three days before each game. Football programs are also required to provide daily updates culminating in a final report that is submitted 90 minutes before each contest.
Baseball and basketball programs in the SEC are required to file injury reports the night before each contest. They must also provide an update on the report each game day.
The SEC is deploying the same terminology as major pro sports leagues that require injury reporting, which includes “available,” “probable,” “questionable,” “doubtful,” and “out.”
SEC member institutions that fail to adhere to the injury report requirements are subject to penalties. For football, the conference levies a $25,000 fine for a first offense and up to $100,000 for a third. For baseball and basketball, fines can reach up to $25,000.
SEC institution hit with violation
The SEC is requiring injury reports as the University of Georgia deals with gambling-related issues.
According to an Athens Banner-Herald report, an unnamed former football staffer at Georgia was relieved of their duties in July for violating the NCAA’s gambling rules by wagering on pro sports. The NCAA bans wagering by all players, coaches, and officials.
The staff was cited for a Level III violation, which is considered an isolated event.
