The Chronicle of Higher Education, Thursday, May 13, 2004

Sports Gambling by Athletes Is a Widespread Problem, NCAA Study Finds

Male college athletes are more likely to gamble on sports than are their female counterparts, and Division III athletes in general are most likely to engage in such behavior, according to a report on gambling by college athletes that the National Collegiate Athletic Association released on Wednesday.

The report is based on the NCAA's 2003 National Study on Collegiate Sports Wagering and Associated Health Risks, to which nearly 21,000 male and female college athletes responded anonymously. The survey found that almost 35 percent of male athletes engaged in some type of sports wagering last year, compared with just 10 percent of female athletes.

Considered on a divisional basis, the survey found that 63.4 percent of men in Division I had participated in some kind of gambling -- playing cards, betting on games of skill, or buying lottery tickets, for example -- while 66.5 percent of men in Division II and 76.3 percent in Division III reported doing so. Female athletes gambled at rates of 41.7 percent, 51 percent, and 51.2 percent for Divisions I, II, and III, respectively.

"With percentages and numbers like these, there is no college or university in the NCAA that can claim they do not have a gambling problem on campus," Myles Brand, the organization's president, said at a news conference in Chicago, where the report was released.

Mr. Brand announced that the NCAA would create a committee to further review the report's findings and make recommendations. The Rev. Edward A. Malloy, president of the University of Notre Dame, will lead the panel, and Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association, will be its vice chairman.

There is no evidence "that integrity of the game has been irrevocably compromised," Mr. Brand said. "But the risk is real. We want to be ahead of this problem."

Under NCAA rules, college athletes may not wager on a college or professional contest in a sport for which the NCAA holds a championship, including Division I football.

The study found that, for male and female athletes, unfamiliarity with the ban was strongly correlated with the tendency to gamble.

"Those students who know more about the rules and believe the rules have teeth are less likely to gamble," said Todd Petr, the NCAA's managing director of research. He said that the top three reasons that athletes across all divisions gave for gambling were having fun, winning money, and feeling excitement. Athletes who do bet "jeopardize their eligibility in competition for at least a year," he said.

According to the study, the sports with the highest percentage of male athletes betting on college sports are golf, wrestling, lacrosse, and football. The women's sports with the highest rates are golf, lacrosse, basketball, and field hockey.

The study also found that football players reported committing the most egregious violations of NCAA rules on gambling: 1.1 percent said they had taken money for playing poorly in a game. Men's basketball players had the next highest rate, 0.5 percent. Additionally, 2.3 percent of football players admitted they had been asked to affect the outcome of a game because of gambling debts, while 2.1 percent of basketball players admitted having been asked the same. Also, 1.4 percent of football players admitted having affected the outcome of a game because of gambling debts.

"The numbers we're looking at concerning involvement in situations that could change the outcome of the game are very small," said Mr. Teaff. "But if they are there at all, it is a huge concern for all of us."

He acknowledged that football appears to have the biggest gambling problem. "Yes, more students are involved in gambling in golf than in football," he said, "but football takes the lead because it is high visibility and something most of America cares about."

He said the coaches' association would work with the NCAA to deal with the issue.

The text of the report is available at the NCAA's Web site. According to an NCAA spokesman, the survey's overall margin of error cannot be calculated because the athletes were asked different questions.