NCAA Significantly Softens Sports Betting Penalties for Athlete Offenders

The NCAA’s Division I legislative committee has offered athletes under investigation for sports betting offenses a potentially career-changing reprieve, significantly lessening its penalties.

While athletes who manipulate games for gambling purposes or provide insider information to bettors still face season-long bans, those who’ve bet on their own sport at another college will get a ban for just 50% of the season under new NCAA rules.

NCAA has decided to go easier on the “young people who have made mistakes”

The new guidelines acknowledge the sports wagering gold rush that has swept the US, giving athlete bettors unprecedented access to multiple sportsbooks. With those considerations, the NCAA has decided to go easier on the “young people who have made mistakes,” said Alex Ricker-Gilbert, chair of the DI committee.

For all other gambling-related violations, such as betting on professional sports, college athletes who bet more will get penalized more. A $200-or-less bet will now earn the culprit a couple of NCAA lectures, instead of a loss of 10% of a season’s eligibility as before. Bet $201 to $500 and athletes will lose 10% of a season (down from 50%), while $501-$800 wagers will attract a 20% eligibility cut instead of an entire season.