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Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., vowed on the “Ruthless” podcast Thursday in an exclusive interview that he will hold the NCAA accountable over a rules change regarding athletes engaging in sports betting.
Guthrie sent a letter to National Collegiate Athletic Association President Charlie Baker, questioning their decision to allow student athletes and college atheletic department staff to bet on professional sports.
“The timing of the NCAA’s decision to allow student athlete and staff participation in professional sports betting raises questions about sports betting and integrity of sport in the NCAA,” Guthrie wrote.
While college athletes are still unable to bet on college sports, Guthrie warned in a letter that there are those who believe it may be hazardous to allow college athletes to bet on professional sports, noting that even the NCAA itself, “previously expressed concern about the pervasiveness and potential harm of sports betting on young adults” and yet beginning next month, student athletes will be able to place bets.
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Amid recent sports betting scandals, the timing of such a rule change, the letter argued, is concerning, and proceeded to ask numerous questions such as, “Why is the NCAA changing its policy allowing student athletes to bet on professional sports?”
Guthrie spoke to the “Ruthless” podcast on Thursday, announcing his NCAA letter.
“The integrity of the game is in question,” the lawmaker said. “And my understanding with the NBA, a lot of these gambling houses are the people that apps, I guess, is what flagged it. Because they saw these different patterns.”
Guthrie expressed concern that while the NCAA has moved to permit student-athletes to bet on professional sports, many questions remain about who made this decision, how the decision was reached, and how oversight and control will be implemented. He emphasized that these athletes are closely connected—often moving from college to the pros and maintaining personal relationships—making it especially important to understand how such relationships and communications will be managed under this new policy.
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Co-host Michael Duncan joked that friends of athletes might pressure them to throw the game in order to win a bet.
“Yeah, I’m just saying, you don’t know that – hopefully they wouldn’t do that, but it certainly sets that situation up,” the congressman warned.
Guthrie went on to note the strange ways that unethical gambling behaviors can pop up, such as citing how player-manager Pete Rose defended how he only bet on his team winning, something which Guthrie noted even himself thought innocuous, “’If you bet on your team to win, aren’t you gonna try harder?’”
However, Guthrie noted how he learned from sports gamblers how even this can be ethically hazardous, due to what games one strategically decides not to bet on.
“So if he’s betting $10,000 on this game, but nothing on the next game, he knows there’s a pitcher not pitching well, has a player got a sore foot. You know, that’s what you don’t know,” he said. “And so I agree. So you can’t have athletes, particularly people that communicate as they do, even though, you know, a college player is not on a pro team, but if his best friends own the pro team, and you’re seeing him betting, then you’re going, ‘Well, maybe we should bet that way.’”
“If there’s one guy that I trust to look into it, it is you because you’re a sports fan, you have tons of integrity, and you actually try to find the facts, not just get your name next to the league letters in the newspaper,” co-host Josh Holmes said.
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