by Ryan Rodenberg, ESPN
After decades of public resistance to legalized sports betting — including six years as the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against New Jersey that eventually made its way to the Supreme Court — the NCAA is moving to address sports betting integrity in new ways.
“Sports wagering is going to have a dramatic impact on everything we do in college sports,” said NCAA executive Mark Emmert at the organization’s annual convention in January and first reported by the Associated Press. “It’s going to threaten the integrity of college sports in many ways unless we are willing to act boldly and strongly.”
The NCAA also said it would form an internal group to study “how best to protect game integrity, monitor betting activity, manage sports data and expand educational efforts.”
The NCAA’s efforts are due, in part, to a confluence of recent events that have highlighted the need for a change in how sports betting is monitored:
— NCAA team championship futures odds shifting markedly after Duke’s Zion Williamson injured his knee last month.
— Moneyline bets cashing — or not — because of a controversial technical foul call in mid-February after a fan threw a stuffed animal onto the court with less than a second remaining during a tie game between Georgia and Mississippi State.
— Two recent late-game officiating disputes that have left the NCAA considering whether to review all buzzer-beaters, even if the outcome of the game would not be impacted.
Conferences are tackling the topic, too.
“[F]raud prevention and consultative services are key tools that support preserving and protecting the integrity of our sports and sports competition,” wrote Pac-12 executive Larry Scott in a 2015 letter to Nevada regulators.
Even individual schools, such as the University of Arkansas late last month, have taken to lobbying lawmakers on sports betting issues.
Having the NCAA, certain conferences, and single schools addressing sports betting represents a seismic shift from where college sports were 20 years ago. It also comes at the time when America’s most-heavily bet sporting event — the NCAA basketball tournament — is set to tip off later this month.
Rest is here…https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/26229344/how-ncaa-pivoting-address-sports-betting-integrity
