In recent years the taboo of sports betting has started to come down and gambling on your favorite team is starting to become easier and more accessible to people around the country. It begs the question how does it effect the schools and athletes that make up the NCAA.
22 states now have legalized sports betting, but not everything looks the same state to state. For example, in Oregon the state offers an app that is run by the state lottery. This allows people to place bets on their favorite local teams like the Blazers or Timbers or on teams halfway across the country or even world. However, they Oregonians cannot legally bet through the app on any college sports.
The state took measure to take college sports off their books after the two largest universities in the state, University of Oregon and Oregon State University, made complaints that they were seeing no part of the winnings despite being public universities. This opens up a large question of when states legalize sports betting how does that look and what is most fair.
However, not every state is set up like Oregon. New Jersey on the other hand is run mostly by the likes of sports betting behemoths like Draftkings. This private company does offer college sports on their books and even reports that the highest percentage of bets are placed on college sports.
As sports betting spreads and more and more large universities see companies or states profiting off their athletic programs will more schools put up a fight? The biggest difference comes in the form of a private company versus a state facilitating bets on their own universities.
States like Oregon are now in a tough spot as they have lost customers to illegal online sportsbooks due to not offering college sports. Now that college athletes can make money off their name, image and likeness, should they also see a benefit from the millions of dollars bet on them every season?
