Source: Chris Gardner / Getty
Gambling is becoming inseparable from the area of professional sports, but college athletes still can’t participate in the arena — and some players at Fresno State may be learning that the hard way.
According to a report from The Fresno Bee, the school’s men’s basketball team is under investigation for alleged betting activity. As a result, two of its top scorers are suspended for at least the team’s upcoming game on Saturday, March 1 against Air Force, and another player has been removed from the team altogether. ESPN confirmed the report.
The Fresno State Bulldogs released a statement confirming that guards Jalen Weaver and Zaon Collins have been suspended for “are being withheld from competition as the university reviews an eligibility matter,” and guard Mykell Robinson has been removed from the team permanently. The Bee also reports that the school began conducting an internal investigation after receiving information about the possible infraction. The school is expected to reveal its findings at a later date.
Source: Chris Gardner / Getty
According to the organization’s website, “NCAA rules ban participation in sports betting activities and prohibit providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports betting activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition.” Rules in professional leagues are less stringent, as athletes are allowed to bet on other sports, but prohibited from betting in the leagues that they’re playing in.
But since a 2018 Supreme Court case that quintessentially legalized sports betting for the first time, gambling and sports have become inseparable. Sportsbetting companies are pouring money into various facets of the sports industry, sponsoring everything from actual games to podcasts and talking head shows. And with the ease of simply clicking a button to bet in any category imaginable, everybody is getting a piece.
A report from ESPN (which has its own sportsbetting property, ESPN BET) revealed that the American sports betting industry posted a record $13.71 billion in revenue for 2024, up from 2023’s record of $11.04 billion, according to the American Gaming Association’s annual report issued Wednesday. Fresno Bee reports that the NCAA conducted a 2023 survey of more than 3,500 people aged between 18 and 22, and found that 58% of respondents had participated in at least one sports betting activity. And while plenty of users are able to play without any issues, horror stories from sports gambling have popped up as well. In December, DraftKings was sued under accusations of “nurturing” the gambling addiction of a man who gambled away $1 million, maxing out his wife’s credit card and emptying his two kids’ savings accounts.
College athletes should rightly be prohibited from sportsbetting, especially in the sports that they actually play in. But with the rising amount of participation in the industry, the problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
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