US House subcommittee examines campus sports betting on Wednesday
Regulation2 min read
The House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development will hold a hearing on campus sports betting at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., a media report said. Lawmakers will examine student gambling, harassment of student-athletes and the legality of college player prop bets.
A hearing on gambling on college campuses is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development confirmed. The examination will cover gambling by students, abuse directed at student-athletes and whether college player prop bets are legal.
College player prop bets focus on an individual’s performance instead of the result of a game. In several scandals, players have colluded with bettors to alter how they perform on the field. NCAA president Charlie Baker has repeatedly pressed states to curb these wagers, prompting numerous states to impose partial or complete bans. Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) introduced the PROTECT Student Athletes Act last February. Under the bill, bets on college events could continue, but student-athlete player props would be banned.
On Oct. 22, Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL) asked the Atlantic Coast Conference for a written explanation of its sports betting policies. Patronis argued that the conference’s appeal to Congress for NIL assistance made transparency about policies and online betting necessary. That day, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) requested more information from sports betting platforms about their VIP programmes. After FanDuel responded, the lawmakers alleged that its information was misleading and incomplete.
The NCAA has recently joined the Bad Actor Program to address online harassment and abuse of student-athletes. The initiative unites the NCAA with Integrity Compliance 360 and Signify Group to monitor social media and identify people harassing student-athletes, coaches, officials and team personnel. In June, Fanatics was announced as the programme’s first sportsbook partner. DraftKings, a sports betting company, has joined too, along with prediction platforms Kalshi and Novig.