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NCAA adopts rule to allow college athletes, personnel to wager on pro sports

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Publish Date: Oct 09, 2025

Fact checked by: Sara Jane Gamelli

Common sense has prevailed.

The NCAA Division I Administrative Committee announced Wednesday they have adopted a proposal that would permit student-athletes and athletics department staff members to bet on professional sports.

No betting on college sports and sharing information about college games and competitions with other bettors is still prohibited and the change would not impact rules prohibiting advertising and sponsorships associated with sports wagering for NCAA Championships.

Indianapolis Circa February 2022 NCAA National Headquarters

The rule change must be approved by all three NCAA divisions (I, II, III). Divisions II and III are expected to consider the proposal during their respective meetings at the end of the month.

If approved by all three divisions, the rule change will be effective Saturday, Nov. 1.

"The Administrative Committee was clear in its discussion today that it remains concerned about the risks associated with all forms of sports gambling but ultimately voted to reduce restrictions on student-athletes in this area to better align with their campus peers.

This change allows the NCAA, the conferences, and the member schools to focus on protecting the integrity of college games while, at the same time, encouraging healthy habits for student-athletes who choose to engage in betting activities on professional sports," said Josh Whitman, University of Illinois Athletic Director and Chair of the Committee in a news release.

The rule change was also supported by the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which requested that the change come with continued and enhanced education and support for college athletes to prevent problem gambling among student-athletes.

Case Overload

The NCAA enforcement staff's caseload involving sports betting violations has continued to increase in recent years, in which most of the violations the staff are pursuing involve conduct that directly impacts the integrity of college sports.

The NCAA monitors more than 22,000 college sports contests annually to detect unusual line activities or other issues

Just last month, the NCAA Committee on Infractions released the first infractions cases for former men's basketball student-athletes who bet on their own games and in some cases engaged in game manipulation for sports betting reasons.

The enforcement staff is also in the process of alleging similar violations for another 13 student-athletes from six other NCAA schools, with additional investigations ongoing.

"The enforcement staff continues to investigate and resolve cases involving sports betting quickly but thoroughly," said Jon Duncan, NCAA vice president of enforcement. "Enforcement staff are investigating a significant number of cases that are specifically relevant to the NCAA's mission of fair competition, and our focus will remain on those cases and those behaviors that impact the integrity of college sports most directly."

Turning the page on the calendar

Should the rule go into effect on Saturday, Nov. 1, there will be a total of 19 games on the professional sports schedule that day.

These include nine NBA, 5 NHL, 4 Major League Soccer (MLS) games and if necessary, Game 7 of the World Series.

The men's and women's college basketball regular seasons will tipoff two days later on Monday, Nov. 3.

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