NCAA Prez Warns of Player Abuse as March Madness Kicks off

The NCAA expects cases of athlete abuse to skyrocket with March Madness. The organization’s president, Charlie Baker, highlighted this as a major problem and urged regulators to outlaw player prop bets.

The Growth of Betting Has Had a Few Adverse Effects

Since the PASPA was repealed in 2018, America’s attitude toward sports betting has quickly shifted. Now, over half of all US jurisdictions have access to at least some form of betting, allowing a significant part of all adult Americans to place wagers.

While countless US citizens have been enjoying gaming safely and responsibly, there are also those who have let their passions get the better of them. As a result, many disgruntled bettors have been pinning their lost bets on the athletes, blaming them for losing money.

This has become a serious problem, especially in college sports where players have been negatively impacted.

Baker Warns Abuse Will Continue

NCAA’s Baker spoke on the matter on national TV, warning that cases of athlete abuse are certain to increase over March Madness. The American Gaming Association (AGA) just published a report saying that expects a staggering $3.1 billion to be wagered on basketball this year.

The aforementioned figure is higher than last year’s and shows that the betting sector continues to attract more and more people. This, of course, means that abuse is likewise likely to increase.

Baker, who appeared on CBS Evening News shortly before the highly anticipated tournament, emphasized that he believes this year, players are once again going to be subjected to vicious and brutal abuse from bettors.

The NCAA prez said that everything ultimately boils down to adults screaming at kids about their performance, undermining the athletes’ confidence just because they have lost a bet. According to Baker, these people no longer care about the sport as much as they do about money.

Baker noted that spectators at stadiums would often shout, telling athletes to do better, lest the wagers fail. However, he added that online abuse is even worse as people would say much more brutal things, sometimes even threatening players’ lives.

Player Prop Bets Are to Blame, NCAA Says

The NCAA believes that the main culprit is the college player prop bets. According to the organization, if these players didn’t exist, there would have been no angry bettors to shout at college and abuse them.

The NCAA has therefore promoted a ban on college player prop bets across the US, highlighting the dangers such products foster. In his interview, Baker acknowledged that approximately half of the states already prohibit such products. His team is now focused on encouraging the rest to adopt similar measures.

In addition to abuse, the NCAA is also concerned about potential cases of insider betting.