Since sports gambling was legalized in 2018, there have been concerns about what the practice could do to the integrity of collegiate sports and the impact it could have on student-athletes.
Both are well-founded worries that require solutions. The NCAA is investigating several suspicious gambling incidents, specifically a game between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan, for which sportsbooks flagged "unusual wagering activity," and a gambling ring linked to Temple, the University of New Orleans, and the NBA.
Again, matters of integrity and problem gambling are real issues. One of the ways to combat these issues is through education. The NCAA has prioritized that approach since 2022, and it's working.
Educational Payoff
In partnership with EPIC Global Solutions, the NCAA has conducted sports betting harm prevention programs at over 260 schools, reaching over 75,000 student-athletes, coaches, and administrators. The program is having an impact on its intended audience, with the number of gamblers declining steadily.
Every four years since 2004, the NCAA conducts an anonymous survey of its student-athletes to measure the impacts of gambling. The results of the 2024 survey were recently released, and it seems that gambling - including sports gambling - is a shrinking concern. In 2008, 66% of student-athletes self-reported to have gambled; by 2024, that number was down to 52%.
| Type of Gambling | 2004 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Cards | 46.8% | 29.2% |
| Games Personal Skill | 39.7% | 22.2% |
| Dice, Craps | 13.4% | 7.1% |
| Slots | 19.8% | 10.6% |
| Casinos | 22.9%* | 17.3% |
| Online Casinos | 6.8% | 9.0% |
| Sports Gambling | 23.5% | 21.5% |
| Stock Market | 10.2% | 19.4% |
*Results were N/A in 2004, percentage from 2008 survey
When you look at the table, gambling is down across the board. Only online casinos and playing the stock market saw an increase. The latter is up big, jumping from 10.2% to 19.4% in 20 years.
A two percent drop in sports gambling over 20 years seems insignificant, but when you dive into the full survey you'll find that in 2008, 29.5% of those surveyed were gambling on sports. A seven percent decrease in 16 years after the practice exploded in popularity across North America is impressive.
All stats presented are for male student-athletes, but the same phenomenon can be observed on the women's side. Sports gambling, in particular, dropped from 6.7% in 2004 to 5.1% in 2024.
It's frankly stunning to see how impactful this educational program has been in dropping sports gambling rates to 21.5% in the face of the billion-dollar gambling industry. As an article published in the Sports Business Journal by Foley & Lardner LLP points out, the access, advertising (which reached $2 billion in 2023), and normalization of sports gambling make it easy for student-athletes to bet on sports, but, for the most part, they resist.
Education is having the desired effect and shrinking the issue of student-athletes gambling.
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