GAGANDEEP KAUR
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
AIDAN SHAPIRO
STAFF WRITER
11/17/2025
On Oct. 22, the Division III management council approved a proposal to allow NCAA athletes and athletic staff to bet on professional sports. Division III was the third and last NCAA division to approve the proposal.
While the proposal was approved in October and was supposed to go into effect on Nov. 1, the start date was pushed back to Nov. 22.
“It’s a conversation that’s actually been going on for a long time. When I was a student athlete, I served on national SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Council) and it was a conversation we had at this point over six years ago,” said Kiana Verdugo, Assistant Vice President for Athletics at Alma.
With sports betting becoming legalized across many US states within the last several years, athletes and coaches will now have the opportunity to place bets on professional sports.
“It’s never been permissible for you to engage in any sports wagering that the NCAA sponsors. Either college or professional,” Verdugo said.
While NCAA athletes and coaches are now allowed to wager on professional sporting events like NFL, NBA or NHL games, they cannot place bets on official NCAA competitions.
“I don’t think the NCAA or myself are naive to the fact that people (NCAA athletes and coaches) are already wagering, but I think now that we are acknowledging that it’s happening, it allows us to be better about education and resources,” Verdugo said.
With sports betting becoming legalized for NCAA athletes and coaches, the NCAA is doing its part to help those that may develop gambling problems.
“If you’re normalizing it, people are going to be more willing to come forward about issues that they’re having. With people coming forward, there’s going to be more resources available to student athletes that may struggle with that kind of stuff,” Holly Hall (‘26), SAAC President at Alma said.
The NCAA has already published a few help sources for those struggling with gambling problems. On the NCAA’s website, there is a large PDF accessible for anyone struggling with gambling problems to read through. The PDF includes stigma-reducing language to use as well as links to other help sources.
On top of this, over 22,000 NCAA competitions are monitored for illegal gambling per year. Officials are also screened to ensure they are unbiased and fair.
The NCAA has also partnered with EPIC Global Solutions to offer educational courses on sports betting. The courses have been successful as well. 96% of student athletes that took part in the course said they felt more educated about the dangers of sports betting afterwards.
“I think the biggest positives that come out of this are the resources and that people will be able to come forward if they’re having an issue with it [gambling] and not fearing that they’re going to get in trouble,” Hall said.
According to a CBS Sports article from October 28, the reason the NCAA pushed the start date back for sports betting is because it has been a controversial ruling for many institutions.
The date of Nov. 22 is also crucial to the passing of this new rule. The new start date comes one day after the close of a rescission period for NCAA Division I, meaning Division I schools can overturn the proposal if they oppose it.
With the recent arrests of NBA head coach Chauncey Billups and NBA guard Terry Rozier for illegal sports betting, there is a chance the NCAA does not pass the proposal on Nov. 22.
The Almanian: News 
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