Athletes Are The Most Prone To Betting On Sports
In a recent report on the effects of gambling in college sports, the National Collegiate Athlete Association made some stunning finds. The report was commissioned by the new gambling investigation branch of the NCAA (the NCAA hired one full time employee to take a look at gambling in college sport, which is a good indicator of how seriously the body takes the issue of gambling) in 2003. Since that time, the NCAA has considerably expanded its anti-gambling program, and it might be that the affects of the measure are positive, as so far the 2000s have been free of the scandals that rocked colleges in the ‘80s and ‘90s. At any rate, the findings of the study proved as eye-openers for many people involved with college sport.
Gambling Prevalent Among Athletes One of the survey’s most astounding findings was that athletes were more likely to bet on the outcome of sports events than non-athletes. 75% of division one athletes admitted to betting on a sport at some point in their career, while a whopping 80% of all male athletes admitted to the practice. While the trend was most visible among males, female athletes were also very likely to have made a wager at some point, with over 50% of respondents stating that they had made a bet on a game.
What do they bet on? The survey found that most athletes who had placed a bet were likely to have wagered on a sport that was not their own. In other words, football players would bet on basketball games and vice versa. However, betting among athletes is still a concern as many athletic programs encourage the mixing of athletes of different sports, and thus the pressure to shave points or other schemes still have the potential to undermine the integrity of the sport, one of the main negative effects of gambling in college sports.
Betting on their own sport. Although most student gamblers are likely to place bets on sports they are not involved in, there is evidence from the surveys that point shaving and other schemes are a real risk when athletes bet on their own game. Several respondents to the survey indicated that they had bet on their own sport, with 6% admitting to betting on a game in which they played. Three of the 2000 athletes surveyed also admitted to directly affecting the results of the game that they had bet on. This fact was nothing new, as several suspensions in the 1990s demonstrated that athletes would bet against their own teams, but the results are alarming nonetheless.
Gambling is a serious concern for the NCAA and other organizations. The negative effects of gambling on college sports have been well documented by the media and are now being proven statistically. In response, the NCAA has increased its programs to fight gambling on campuses nationwide.
