Steve Sarkisian shares his thoughts on the NCAA's newest ruling on sports gambling
Last night, the NCAA announced approval of a rule change that will allow athletes and athletic department staff members to bet on professional sports.
Though it doesn’t change rules surrounding betting on collegiate sports, the rule change, which will go into effect on Nov. 1, means collegiate athletes will no longer be punished for gambling on professional sports.
The NCAA emphasized that it doesn’t endorse betting on sports by its student-athletes, but believes it recognizes the changes in the ever-evolving college sports world.
“Our action reflects alignment across divisions while maintaining the principles that guide college sports,” said Roberta Page, director of athletics at Slippery Rock and chair of the Division II Management Council. “This change recognizes the realities of today’s sports environment without compromising our commitment to protecting the integrity of college competition or the well-being of student-athletes.”
On today’s Zoom press conference, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about the change, saying:
“I totally disagree with the NCAA on this, and I was very vocal about it,” Sarkisian said. “Here we are in an era where we have revenue sharing and NIL publicity rights, and so the players now have money, so now let’s give them the freedom to take that money and gamble it away. That makes no sense to me when we’re in a space of educating young people, and part of educating young people is what to do with their money.”
Sarkisian took a strong stance against the ruling, claiming it makes it harder to both educate and penalize players.
Sarkisian made the point that it will now be even harder to police the athletes and that it will have a backward effect on what they are trying to teach their student-athletes.
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“I’m disappointed in this ruling that this is what we decided to do with our young people, when they could be doing something really substantial in their lives, for their own lives, and for their families’ lives,” Sarkisian said. “So let’s be clear about that. They’re not all going to gamble, but some are. And is that what we were trying to accomplish with this?”
Sports gambling is ever-present in the current world, with media and team sponsorships seeing an ever-increasing influence of betting in the sports scene. This ruling was soon followed by news in the basketball world, with Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier being arrested on account of an investigation into illegal sports gambling and poker rigging schemes allegedly backed by the Mafia.
Now, the players who have recently been given the chance to profit off their own likeness at the collegiate level are also permitted to place legal bets on professional sports.
Sarkisian has been a staunch advocate against this type of progression in the college football world and has taught his team that way. As our own Justin Wells pointed out on a live broadcast earlier this morning, his response to this change reminded us a lot of a former player of his, David Gbenda.
Last year, Gbenda was asked about the odds for a game between Texas and Oklahoma, and it was clear he had no interest in speaking about sports gambling. Just look at his face when he realized the reporter was asking about betting.
Sarkisian is clearly not a fan of the ruling, but it’s a change that will impact his team nonetheless.
