In a rare win for common sense, the NCAA has voted to overturn a rule that would have allowed collegiate athletes to bet on professional sports.
The proposal was set to take effect on November 1. However, after an FBI gambling probe netted nearly three dozen arrests, including current and former NBA coaches and players as well as college athletes, the NCAA delayed implementation. The overturning of the rule now adds permanence to the delay.
The vote to rescind the rule was no small undertaking. A vote of more than two-thirds of the NCAA’s 361 member schools was required to overturn the measure.
Though clearly, the danger of allowing collegiate athletes to wager on professional games was driven home in the past few weeks. Players who develop a habit of gambling and a tendency to profit from it will find it much more difficult to stop the practice once they get into the pros. Plus, many collegiate athletes retain friendships with pro athletes they knew in college and could prevail upon them to help fix games.
For these self-evident reasons, it’s incredible that the proposal to allow college athletes to gamble on professional sports actually passed NCAA committees in all three divisions.
The schools crossed the threshold vote to overturn the rule only one day before the 30-day period expired.
