A Congressional committee that helps to oversee sports in the U.S. has written to the NCAA to question the wisdom of the league’s decision to lift its longstanding ban on student-athletes voting on professional sports.
The GOP Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Kentucky Rep. Brett Guthrie, is one of the authors of a letter sent to NCAA President Charlie Baker on Oct. 30.
Six lawmakers signed letter to Baker
“The timing of the NCAA’s decision to allow student athlete and staff participation in professional sports betting raises questions about sports betting and integrity of sport in the NCAA,” wrote Guthrie and five other lawmakers, referencing numerous recent betting-related controversies in both college and pro sports.
The authors noted that Baker himself has previously expressed concern over the harms that sports betting may cause to young people, as well as the integrity and abuse risks that may be posed by player prop betting.
“Given recent events, the NCAA’s statements and the reality that many student athletes become professional athletes, it is concerning that the NCAA is changing its policy on sports betting,” concluded the letter.
The lawmakers requested that Baker and the NCAA answer a total of nine questions by Nov. 13, including why the NCAA voted to make the change, whether it is now reconsidering it and how the NCAA already does and will continue to protect sporting integrity. The authors also want details on any alleged fraudulent or illegal betting practices in connection with NCAA players, coaches and officials.
NCAA hits brakes as SEC urges rethink
Guthrie and Co. noted in the letter that within a week of announcing it was lifting the ban, the NCAA delayed the proposed implementation date of the change from Nov. 1 and Nov. 22 to allow Division I athletic institutions to vote on whether to rescind the change.
The NCAA allows DI schools to hold a reconsideration vote within 30 days if the rule proposal in question didn’t receive at least 75% of votes from the DI Board, which this change did not. At least two-thirds of the institutions need to vote against the rule change for it to be rescinded.
The DI Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) supported the rule change to allow student-athletes to bet on pro sports, but the NCAA faced notewrthy pushback from Southeastern Conference (SEC) Commissioner Greg Sankey, who sent his own letter to Baker requesting that the rule change be rescinded in order to avoid “wholesale removal of the guardrails that have long supported the integrity of games and the well-being of those who participate.”
Pittsburgh football head coach Pat Narduzzi called the change “one of the stupidest decisions I’ve ever seen.”
Congress has plenty to say
This is not the only letter the Energy and Commerce Committee has written to a sports league chief about gambling in the last week.
On Oct. 24, the committee called on NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to explain himself in the wake of the latest gambling scandal to engulf the league. It asked Silver to provide details of NBA staff’s alleged involvement in the activity that led to the indictment of Terry Rozier and others, as well as to explain the actions the NBA intends to take.
Members also questioned whether the NBA is now reassessing its partnerships with sports betting operators.
The House committee’s Senate equivalent, the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee led by Ted Cruz, also wrote to Silver to demand that he explain why the NBA allowed Rozier to continue playing after investigating him itself.
