How Collegiate Betting Hinders Integrity of Amateur College Sports

Betting refers to an act of foretelling or predicting results in sports by putting a wager on the result. Betting also refers to gambling money, time, and possessions on the outcome of things like a game or a race. Bets are placed on several sports events such as hockey, basketball, association football, American football, boxing, mixed martial arts, and cycling. Non- athletic events can also be betted on. These non-athletic events include the outcome of an election, beauty contest, and reality show (Agnew et al.,2017). Betting takes place at both professional and amateur levels. Sports and betting have gone hand in hand since time immemorial, as it can be noted that the earliest form of betting happened about 2000 years ago in the Olympic Games. Horse racing to be precise, involved various horses, and spectators were required to place bets(Goodall, 2015). With the coming of the internet and the improvement of technology, betting was made a lot easier, which sparked a boom in betting (Fielkow et al., 2016). However, the lack of regulations and legislation in betting encouraged foul play and increased the stigma associated with gambling. Today, sports face several challenges as far as maintaining their integrity is concerned. Things that hinder integrity in sports include corruption, match-fixing, and doping (Marchica & Derevensky, 2018). This paper discusses how collegiate sports betting will hinder the integrity of amateur college sports.

Now that sports betting has been made legal in the United States, this will lead to an increased number of crimes associated with finance and their violations. The main idea why the United States encouraged the legalizing of betting was to raise a pool of revenue collection and creation of jobs. The results of studies have indicated that legalizing betting has had different impacts and ramifications. Betting has led to an increase in fraud, financial crimes, and spot and matching fixing, and the most adverse effect of betting is that it has presented a threat to the integrity of sports (Campman, 2019). For the athletes in colleges, this has necessitated the scrutiny of the amateurish system. The improvement in technology has made betting very accessible, leading to a return in organized crimes. The United States and gambling have a history like no other. In 1910, gambling was made illegal because of the economic strife that came with it. In 1931, a new deal was signed, which allowed a plan for economic recovery. High taxations from the government saw sports betting being done in outlawed avenues. It’s worth noting that the state of Nevada has influenced the sports betting journey in the history of the United States (Marchica & Derevensky, 2018). Betting was allowed in all other jurisdictions, but sports betting remained banned. In 1992, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was enforced into law to avert harm to the integrity of the sport. It came up with a broad-based stop on sports wagering. The senate judiciary subcommittee declared sports betting a national crisis whose harms reverberated across the borders of those states which approved it (Agnew et al.,2017). However, the Murphy decision of 2018 overturned the Professional Sports Protection Act. A variety of benefits that come with the decision of the Supreme Court to allow betting and gambling in the States within US are that the engagement among the fans will increase and this can be seen when many fans watch and view most of the sports events in the country. By increasing viewership, many sports betting firms will increase income for broadcasters through advertising. On the other hand, sports leagues will gain from the revenue increase since they will increase the prices for their viewer rights as they sell them to broadcasters. Another gain for the states is that by being allowed to self-regulate betting, the states will regain the money from foreign sports betting firms, and the money can be used for beneficial use within the communities. Furthermore, with increased betting within the states, especially in the casino sector, many jobs will be created (Agnew et al.,2017).

Sports integrity refers to demonstrating the value and ethics that promote the public’s confidence and belief in sports. Sports being a big business attracts a lot of money and players, and the chances are that sports will encourage corrupt practices (Goodall, 2015). Integrity in sports is a huge issue because many factors revolve around it. Factors like corruption, match-fixing, and doping. Other reasons that affect the integrity of sports are seeking gratification and rewards, cheating, player aggression, disrespect, and the desire to win at all costs, including bending the rules. Integrity in sports can be noted when fair play, respect for the game, sportsmanship, respect for the rules, compassion, and honesty. Integrity dictates that one should adhere to the written and unwritten rules, respect fellow players, the referees, the coaches, and pay maximum respect to the fans. Fair play calls for respect to the rivals, fair competition, equality, solidarity, and gamesmanship (Fielkow et al., 2016). Corruption, doping, and match-fixing give sports a bad name in the public’s eyes. By proving that officials accepted kickbacks, athletes used banned substances, and matches were fixed only gives the public a very negative opinion about the validity of the competition (Holden, 2019).

Sports betting had been allowed in Nevada since 1949, and betting on professional sports, but betting on collegiate sports had been prohibited. With time, betting on collegiate sports was allowed in Nevada but with a provision that made it illegal to gamble on sports events that involved universities and colleges located in the state of Nevada. However, the provision did not last long because, in 2001, gambling was made legal in all universities, colleges, and amateur sports events (Fielkow et al., 2016). With the increase, appeal, and accessibility of gambling activities, gambling has become a major issue among college students. Research shows that more than 80% of university and college students have participated in more than one form of gambling. Student-athletes have become the most vulnerable and addicted to gambling (Marchica & Derevensky, 2018). The study denotes that student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate sports and engage in gambling will in the future be faced with gambling problems as compared to those who do not participate in these games. Problem gambling is a major problem in the United States. Most of those affected by the betting problem is college and university students, followed by adolescents. Student-athletes engage in gambling because of their high-risk behaviors, which see most of them engage in alcohol and drug abuse, aggression, unsafe driving, and risky sexual activities (Harris, 2020). The college-athletes who play basketball and football have a high prevalence of high-risk behaviors. They are susceptible to gambling because of the advertisements, and the attention gambling is given. Highly visible sport betting activities from NBA finals to super Bowls, from College Bowl games to fantasy leagues, and the many messages from the media stations that promote gambling. Furthermore, student-athletes engage in gambling as a way of bonding among the team, increasing comradeship and even inspiring competition with other teams from different institutions. Apart from the risks mentioned, gambling among student-athletes may also devalue the integrity of intercollegiate amateur sports by negatively influencing the score. It also affects the athlete’s performance and impacts the team’s dynamics (Goodall, 2015). Student-athletes have less time to make money from sports since most of their time is divided between schoolwork and sports. Most of these students have needs and wants, but they are limited in terms of finances; they will be forced to do whatever they can to make extra bucks that match their needs, and that’s where match-fixing and point-shaving come in. Match-fixing and point-shaving not only tempers with the integrity and fair play of the sports but will also ensure that student-athletes become easier targets of sports gamblers (Marchica & Derevensky, 2018). These sports gamblers will put a lot of pressure and target student-athletes to affect the result of games now that gambling has been legalized. The problem is also catalyzed by colleges making a lot of money from TV deals through advertising and donations from alumni and supporters; the student-athletes do not earn a penny from the monies since they are prohibited from being paid (Goodall, 2015). Another factor contributing to the issue of match-fixing in collegiate athletes after the legalization of gambling is the age factor. Most of the student-athletes being 18 years old or younger, the chances that they may be easily manipulated to throw a game are very high. Money may also motivate them compared to professional athletes who earn a lot (Harris, 2020).

Now that collegiate sports betting will hinder the integrity of amateur sports with the legalization of betting, we can only promote the integrity of the sports by paying student-athletes. By paying them, the temptation to match-fix or point-shaving because of a few bucks will reduce drastically (Fielkow et al., 2016). Again, those states that have not yet legalized gambling should put regulations like those enacted by the redundant National Collegiate Athletic Association. The regulations are very clear, and the price is very high, including being banished from participating in their games for years. The National Collegiate Athletic Association should adopt the Olympic Amateurism Model, where athletes are entitled to like money and other prestige and privileges (Agnew et al.,2017).

In conclusion, collegiate sports betting has hindered the integrity of amateur college sports. It is denoted when student-athletes will become cheap targets for gamblers. These gamblers will manipulate the students by giving them money to throw a game. It is motivated by the fact that student-athletes are prohibited from being paid, yet those around them are making a lot of money from their efforts. They are encouraged to seek other means to look for money, which leads them into match-fixing and point saving. To fight this vice, The National Collegiate Athletic Association should adopt the Olympic Amateurism Model, where athletes are entitled to like money and other prestige and privileges.

References

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