logo
NCAA and Genius Sports extension seeks to protect college athletes from negative prop bets

NCAA and Genius Sports extension seeks to protect college athletes from negative prop bets

The NCAA and Genius Sports announced a multi-year expansion of their partnership earlier this year, making Genius the exclusive distributor of official NCAA data to licensed sportsbooks through 2032.
There is a caveat to the agreement, NCAA President Charlie Baker said Tuesday.
'For them to continue to access our data moving forward, there can't be any sportsbook betting on negative props,' Baker said. 'So all the stuff that literally translates into a lot of the worst behavior that's directed at young people and student-athletes generally under this agreement is going to be off the table.'
College athletes have long been subject to online abuse. In a 2024 study, analysts verified over 5,000 posts towards athletes containing abusive content. Of the abusive posts, the study found 80% were directed at March Madness athletes, with female basketball players receiving about three times more abusive messages than men's players.
More than 740 instances, or 12% of the abuse, pertained to sports betting.
Baker has heard similar feedback from athletes, but the abuse goes beyond social media. Athletes are pressured to fulfill prop bets, including missing a free throw or muffing a catch.
'Student-athletes don't like the idea of being approached to begin with around that kind of issue," Baker said xxxx. 'They especially don't like being nudged into something that's not in the best interest of themselves or their teams, and more importantly, they all make clear to me they felt enormous social pressure to quote, help a guy out.'
Most of that pressure comes via social media, but athletes could face some of that in person. An NCAA-conducted survey showed over half of 18- to 22-year-olds were recent sports bettors. Age restrictions didn't play a factor. Betting rates at ages 18, 19 and 20 were the same as ages 21 and 22, meaning college campuses are full of sports bettors, Baker explained.
The contract negotiation with Genius is one step the NCAA has taken to reduce prop bets and minimize abuse. Other efforts have included tracking and publishing online abuse data and pushing state gaming authorities to peel back rules around college prop bets.
Still, it's a work in progress.
'At this point, slightly more than half the states that have legalized sports betting do not permit prop betting on college sports, but that still leaves enormous numbers of student-athletes subject to the kind of abuse that comes with this stuff. And I think it will remain, for all intents and purposes, a significant challenge going forward,' Baker said.
___

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Judge denies Zakai Zeigler's request for preliminary injunction allowing 5th season
Judge denies Zakai Zeigler's request for preliminary injunction allowing 5th season

Fox Sports

time36 minutes ago

  • Fox Sports

Judge denies Zakai Zeigler's request for preliminary injunction allowing 5th season

A federal judge on Thursday denied Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler's request for a preliminary injunction allowing him to play a fifth season of Division I basketball in five years. U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer listened to arguments in a hearing June 6 in Knoxville and entered her denial Thursday morning. She wrote that Zeigler failed to demonstrate he would likely succeed in his argument that the NCAA keeping him from playing a fifth season of Division I basketball is a violation under the Sherman Act. "This Court is a court of law, not policy," Crytzer wrote in her order denying the injunction. "What the NCAA should do as a policy matter to benefit student athletes is beyond the reach of the Sherman Act and TTPA and by extension, this Court." The two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year asked for an injunction when he sued the NCAA on May 20 over its rules limiting him to four seasons in a five-year window as an unlawful restraint of trade under both federal and Tennessee laws. His lawsuit argues he could earn between $2 million and as much as $4 million with another season. His attorneys made clear this is just a first step in this legal fight. "We are disappointed the Court declined to grant a preliminary injunction on the basis that the NCAA does not directly control NIL compensation, just days after the House settlement confirmed they would do exactly that," according to a statement from Litson PLLC and the Garza Law Firm. "This ruling is just the first chapter of what we believe will ultimately be a successful challenge. We intend to press forward and are evaluating the best path ahead for Zakai." The judge wrote that the harms Zeigler argues he would suffer can be addressed with a future damages award. She also noted the "fixed number of roster spots" for each Division I basketball team and that "an injunction would run the risk of harming currently enrolled players committed to a university and current high school seniors being recruited." The NCAA argued in its brief before the hearing that Zeigler's injunction request should be denied because he is asking the court to make him the first athlete in history to play a fifth season in Division I "as a matter of right." During the hearing, the judge asked Zeigler's attorneys to file a quick brief answering whether or not Zeigler is an "intercollegiate athlete" as defined under state law and what legal standard applies to Zeigler's claim under the Tennessee Trade Practices Act. The Associated Press contributed to this story. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily ! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience College Basketball recommended Get more from College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic

Wisconsin receives a year of probation and $25,000 fine over impermissible calls to recruits
Wisconsin receives a year of probation and $25,000 fine over impermissible calls to recruits

Washington Post

time43 minutes ago

  • Washington Post

Wisconsin receives a year of probation and $25,000 fine over impermissible calls to recruits

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin was placed on one year's probation and fined $25,000 on Thursday after an NCAA investigation showed that nine coaches and staffers made impermissible phone calls to recruits in 2023. Former defensive line coach Greg Scruggs and former director of player personnel Max Stienecker received one-year show cause orders. Scruggs is now an assistant defensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers. Stienecker is Southern California's executive director of personnel.

Democrats criticize latest effort by Congress to regulate college sports as setback for athletes
Democrats criticize latest effort by Congress to regulate college sports as setback for athletes

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Democrats criticize latest effort by Congress to regulate college sports as setback for athletes

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest effort by Congress to regulate college sports generated predictable partisan outrage on Thursday, with Democrats saying Republican-led draft legislation would claw back freedoms won by athletes through years of litigation against the NCAA. Three House committees are considering legislation that would create a national standard for name, image and likeness payments to athletes and protect the NCAA against future lawsuits. Last week, a federal judge approved a $2.8 billion settlement that will lead to schools paying athletes directly, and NCAA President Charlie Baker said now that his organization is implementing those major changes, Congress needs to step in and stabilize college sports. Advertisement Baker said he supports the draft legislation that was the subject of Thursday's hearing by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, but there was little indication that any bill advanced by the House would generate enough Democratic support to surpass the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. 'I'm deeply disappointed for the second year in a row, Republicans on this committee are advancing a partisan college sports bill that protects the power brokers of college athletics at the expense of the athletes themselves,' said Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass. Trahan noted that if the NCAA or conferences establish unfair rules, athletes can challenge them in court, with the settlement of the House v. NCAA antitrust case the latest example of athletes winning rights that they had been denied historically. 'This bill rewrites that process to guarantee the people in power always win, and the athletes who fuel this multibillion-dollar industry always lose,' said Trahan, who played volleyball at Georgetown. Advertisement The NCAA argues that it needs a limited antitrust exemption in order to set its own rules and preserve a college sports system that provides billions of dollars in scholarships and helps train future U.S. Olympians. Several athletes are suing the NCAA over its rule that athletes are only eligible to play four seasons in a five-year period, and on Tuesday, a group of female athletes filed an appeal of the House settlement, saying it discriminated against women in violation of federal law. On the Senate side, a bipartisan group including Republican Ted Cruz of Texas has been negotiating a college sports reform bill for months, but those talks are moving more slowly than Cruz had hoped at the beginning of this Congress. The draft bill in the House would create a national standard for NIL, overriding the state laws that critics say have led to a chaotic recruiting environment. That, too, was criticized by Democrats and by their key witness at the hearing, Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association. Huma argued that the NCAA wants to get rid of booster-funded NIL collectives that another witness, Southeastern Conference associate commissioner William King, characterized as 'fake NIL' or 'pay for play.' Advertisement Instead, Huma said the collectives are examples of the free market at work, noting that before players won NIL rights through a court case, boosters could only donate to athletic departments. Tom McMillen, a former Democratic congressman who played in the NBA after an All-America basketball career at Maryland, took a dim view of the bill's prospects. 'I think they're trying to come up with something and pull in some Democrats. I just don't know if that's going to succeed or not,' said McMillen, who for several years led an association of Division I athletic directors. 'There's a real philosophical divide, so that's the hard part. It's hard to bridge. And there's a zillion other issues.' The subcommittee chairman, Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said the draft legislation already had some bipartisan support and he was open to changes that would get more Democrats on board. Advertisement 'I will consider some of the suggestions, the legitimate suggestions that were made,' Bilirakis said, 'and I will be happy to talk to lawmakers that truly want to get a big bill across the finish line.' ___ AP college sports: Ben Nuckols, The Associated Press

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store