Betting is becoming a problem.
It is college football bowl season and there is a lot of interest in the various games but the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s President Charlie Baker is concerned about gambling, particularly prop bets. Baker is worried about the safety of the so-called student-athletes and made a pitch to the United States Senate to do something about sports gambling. He wants prop bets out of college sports. Baker wants Congress to limit the types of bets gamblers can make on college athletes. Baker said this. “Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity and competition and leading to student athletes and professional athletes getting harassed. The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.”
Presently, nineteen states allow for prop bets on player performances in college athletics such as the number yards for a college quarterback. Baker said many athletes are pressured into performing in certain ways, such as a basketball player intentionally missing free throws, and subject to threats online and in person when their performance keeps a bettor from winning a wager. Baker knows betting has changed sports. “There’s no doubt that the rise of sports betting has impacted the NCAA and student athletes in a significant way, but none of the consequences are as challenging as the harassment and coercion student athletes are experiencing. Many have received death threats from bettors, and they also receive other in person threats and accusations directed at them while leaving or coming onto the field of play.” Baker added that the NCAA had to provide one team 24 hour, 7 days a week police security during one of its championships due to threats made by a bettor. The college bowl season is not as joyous as it once was.
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