When Student Athletes Gamble

Though many college students are not old enough to gamble legally, this often does not stop student athletes from doing so. The majority of them that gamble do so, on sporting events as opposed to playing table and slot machine games.

It is not unusual for student athletes who gamble to become anti-social, let their grades slip and experience legal troubles. They also often see a drop in the quality of their performance on the playing field of whatever sport they participate in.

In 2012 the NCAA commissioned a study in which 39% of female athletes and 57% of male athletes admitted that within the last year they had participated in some form of gambling. Division 1 students were found to gamble less than others.

While few student athletes actually practice pathological gambling, .2% of females and 1.9% of males were found to be exhibiting clinical signs seen in those who have a problem with gambling. Those male and female athletes are said to be at a higher risk for becoming pathological gamblers than others.

Studies have shown that student athletes are more likely to participate in high stakes sports betting than non-athlete students who are more likely to engage in other types of gambling.

To protect student athletes the NCAA has ruled that they are not allowed to place real money bets on any professional, amateur or college sports event if the NCAA conducts it. Any athlete found to be in violation of this rule is no longer allowed to participate in any of their school’s sports teams. When one athlete loses the right to participate the entire team is often negatively affected.

However, 26% of student athletes who are male continue to engage in sports betting anyway. Of those 26%, 8% or more of them admit to participating in sports betting once a month or more.

In most cases when student athletes make bets on sports games the bets are made between teammates. However, others are getting around the NCAA rules by participating in online sports betting as opposed to offline sports betting.

Of Division 1 athletes, a study conducted in 2012 determined that for every 20 male student basketball players, one of them was approached in order to gain insider information on an upcoming game.

Surveys conducted on student athletes have determined that 2/3 of them operate on the belief that their teammates or aware of when they are participating in gambling. Most college sports team coaches encourage their players to let them know if they know of a teammate who is engaged in gambling. They will often refer any of their players that are gambling, to a resource where they can seek help for it. Coaches are trained to detect when one of their players may be gambling, just by listening to the conversations they have with their teammates at any given time. Team members and coaches both play an important role in ensuring that no student athlete is gambling at all.