As discussions continue across the board regarding the legalization and regulation of sports betting on a federal level, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is showing its opposition to the idea. This is despite the fact that the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Major League Baseball (MLB) have seemed to come to terms with the possibility.
According to the NCAA, it believes that around 80% of its athletic directors would be opposed to expanding legalized sports betting in the United States.
The head of Lead1, which is comprised of NCAA athletic directors from Division One, Tom McMillen, spoke about the majority of the members who are not in favor of expansion.
“We’ve surveyed them, and we found out that 80% of them were not in favour of it,” McMillen, said in an interview. “We just want to make sure our members are attuned to what’s going on, particularly at the state level.”
McMillen has not ruled out the option of sports betting receiving a green light from the government, but with college sports wagering kept out of the equation.
“I think the NCAA’s position is basically that they’d like to be carved out, but they’re not going to be involved until there’s a determination at the court level, and then they’ll deal with it,” McMillen said, referring to the upcoming decision by the US Supreme Court regarding sports betting’s changing status. The higher court is set to rule on New Jersey’s appeal to overturn the federal 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), and a decision is expected later this year.
At present, it goes against federal laws for governmental entities to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license or authorize betting on games played by professional or amateur athletes.
Only four states were permitted to offer sports betting wagers (Delaware, Montana, Oregon and Nevada) since they opted out of PASPA when it was passed in 1992. New Jersey, at the time, opted in, but has been battling to get out of the law for a decade.
