NCAA moves toward allowing athletes and staff to bet on professional sports

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is reportedly moving toward removing its ban on athletes, coaches, and staff betting on professional sports.

The Division I Board of Directors has laid the groundwork for such a policy change, with the issue now set for discussion at the D-I Council’s upcoming meeting next week, multiple sources confirmed to Sports Illustrated.

If the council approves the measure, the change could be fast-tracked and go into effect as soon as late June.

Currently, NCAA rules prevent wagering on professional sports, including football, basketball, hockey, baseball, golf, and tennis, for those involved in college athletics. However, a video conference on April 21 revealed that the Division I board voted 21-1 in favor of directing the council to "adopt legislation to deregulate the prohibition on wagering on professional sports." 

Additionally, the board recommended creating a "safe harbor" or reduced penalties for student-athletes who seek help for gambling problems.

The NCAA rulebook also currently labels sports betting as "a serious threat to the well-being of our student-athletes and to the integrity of NCAA competition,” according to Bleacher Report. It added that changing this policy would reflect the NCAA's evolving stance on sports betting since the Supreme Court's 2018 decision to lift the federal ban.

Prohibitions on gambling involving college sports, however, would remain in place, sources confirmed.

The proposal is part of the NCAA’s ongoing review of its sports wagering policies, which began in 2023. As legal sports gambling expands across the U.S., enforcing the current rules has become challenging, with the NCAA’s enforcement staff overwhelmed by numerous cases involving minor infractions related to professional sports betting.

Matt Banker, a college athletics consultant, explained that the policy shift reflects the changing landscape of sports gambling. "The world of sports wagering looks far different in 2025 than it did even ten years ago, as it's now legal in almost 80% of the United States," he said. 
 
Banker added that monitoring all forms of wagering “could be a full-time job for the NCAA.”

If the change is approved, the NCAA will focus its efforts on maintaining the integrity of college sports, particularly preventing point-shaving, game-fixing, and performance manipulation for gambling purposes. The NCAA believes these are bigger risks to college sports than professional sports gambling by athletes or coaches.

Ongoing federal and NCAA investigations are looking into game-fixing in men’s college basketball, with several players suspended or dismissed during the 2024–25 season for gambling-related violations.

In its most recent report, the International Betting Integrity Association flagged six U.S. basketball games for suspicious betting activity in early 2025, up from five flagged games in all of 2024.