COLUMBUS – Big Ten and Southeastern Conference are formally trying to find solutions for the issues facing college sports.
The two wealthiest and most-powerful college conferences announced the formation of a joint advisory group of university leaders and athletic directors.
The enterprise of big-time college sports is struggling to adapt quickly under constant legal and political pressures.
“I support the leadership role that the Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference are undertaking with the goal of improving our student-athlete experiences and also finding solutions to the challenges facing collegiate athletics today,” Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith said.
“I applaud Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on their proactive partnership and leadership role that will address the issues and seek solutions within the current environment,” Smith said.
The NCAA is facing at least five antitrust lawsuits brought by Ohio and other states challenging its authority to govern college sports, from how athletes can be compensated to transfer and recruiting rules.
In some of those lawsuits, the SEC, Big Ten and other power conferences are also named defendants.
DeWine, NCAA want to curtail college sports prop bets
Ohio’s governor and the head of the NCAA have announced their support for changes to the state’s sports wagering rules that would remove collegiate prop bets from the list of bets that can be made legally.
Following numerous reports of social media threats made to collegiate athletes, the NCAA sent a letter to the Ohio Casino Control Commission on Wednesday asking that bets on in-game action no longer be allowed.
“One year into sports gambling in Ohio, we have seen a marketplace develop where a number of bad actors have engaged in unacceptable behavior by making threats against student-athletes in Ohio and across the country,” DeWine said.
Prop bets are wagers on individual player achievements, including in-game statistics.
“The data is clear that student-athletes are getting harassed by bettors. Sports betting without appropriate controls poses real risks to the well-being of student-athletes and to the integrity of collegiate competition,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said.
Under the discussed changes, bettors would still be permitted to place bets on the overall outcomes and final scores of collegiate sports contests, including outright winners, over/under total team points bets, and bets against the point-spread.
“Collegiate athletes should not be faced with harmful threats, and changing the wagering rules in Ohio can help put an end to this,” Smith said.
The rule changes would not affect professional sports
DeWine spoke out against reports of threats against University of Dayton basketball players began to emerge shortly after Ohio’s sports gambling laws became effective in 2023 and called for changes in the biennial budget bill.