SEC To Mandate Injury Reports, Improve Transparency For College Football Betting

In just a few weeks, the 2024 college football season will begin. With the Pac-12 down to just two teams, there are now four power conferences. They include the ACC, SEC, BIG 12, and 10. Recently, CBS Sports announced that the SEC is planning to make a big change for the upcoming season. They plan to introduce a mandatory injury report for 2024. The Big 10 implemented “game day availability” last season. This aims to address the lack of transparency regarding college football betting. Millions of dollars are on the line each weekend with bettors placing wagers on football games during the fall and winter. Now that the SEC and Big 10 have some form of injury reports, the other major conferences in college football could soon follow.

College football players receive abusive messages from bettors who did not win

According to the NCAA, one in three high-profile athletes receive abusive messages from someone with a betting interest. Additionally, 15% to 25% of the messages they receive are betting-related. Collegiate sports betting scandals will disappear if the NCAA doesn’t make a national policy. The league’s reluctance to implement a standardized system like the NFL is why the student-athletes continue to be harassed. However, NCAA President Charlie Baker said it’s the responsibility of states to restrict wagers on player prop bets. That would eliminate the issue. If it were that easy, Baker would have made that happen already. Unfortunately, it’s extremely difficult to get all legal betting states to agree to ban collegiate player props. Charlie Baker used to be the governor of Massachusetts and he signed off on a sports betting bill. He regrets signing that bill to expand sports betting.

Would a league-wide injury report benefit college football?

Back in 2018, the US Supreme Court made a ruling that would allow states to legalize sports betting. When that first happened, the NCAA considered adding a national injury reporting system. However, that never happened and injuries have not had to be disclosed until recently. Last season the Big 10 was the first power conference to have game-day availabilities. Ahead of the 2024 season, the SEC announced they will have mandatory injury reports for the upcoming season. They want to improve transparency between college football and its bettors.