Charlie Baker NCAA: 10% Of Its Athletes Approached By People With Gambling Interests - April 28

NEW YORK – NCAA President Charlie Baker on Monday continued his push to end certain types of wagers on college sports. Speaking to a group from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Baker said college athletes continue to face harassment, threats, and verbal abuse related to betting issues.

Baker cited a survey that found 10% of college athletes have been approached by individuals with “sports betting interests” through social media, other platforms, and even in person.

He also pointed to the emergence of legal trading markets such as Kalshi and Robinhood as part of a “grey area” that remains “part of the problem.” For example, Kalshi handled more than $500 million in trades during the NCAA Tournament. Unlike regulated sports betting sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, these trading platforms have no geographical restrictions within the United States and offer none of the integrity protections that sportsbooks provide.

The NCAA is also working on a deal in which {!! anchor("sports betting apps","BDC - EN - Article",20985,"","","","gtm-content-internal-links")|raw} using its proprietary data agree not to offer so-called “negative college prop bets”—wagers offering an "under" on a specific player stat line.

Baker noted that even before he officially began his term as NCAA president, student-athletes overwhelmingly raised concerns about sports betting.

“The kids I talked to said this stuff is everywhere, it’s hugely problematic, and it creates incredible tension between student-athletes and classmates, and others who are constantly pushing them for information that they can use to make better bets—like ‘maybe you could take the first shot’ or ‘miss your first free throw,’” Baker said.

Baker continued to lobby for an end to “underperformance wagers” on individual player props in college sports, especially basketball. However, he acknowledged the challenge posed by the fact that 38 states, plus Washington D.C., have legalized sports betting—requiring the NCAA to deal with each jurisdiction separately.

As governor of Massachusetts, Baker signed the Massachusetts Sports Wagering Act into law in 2022. The law prohibits wagering on all in-state college teams unless they are participating in a tournament and bans all college player prop betting.

Baker said the NCAA is working "state-by-state" to at least eliminate "under" wagers on college player props and to promote anti-harassment legislation.

Although nearly every state with legal betting limits participation to those 21 and older, Baker said NCAA research found that the percentage of students aged 18–20 who bet on sports is no lower than that of students over 21.

"We had kids who had thousands of what we would characterize as abusive traffic directed at them (on social media) during their tournaments," Baker said. "Or you can just sit behind the bench and hear what is said."

Among the other issues discussed by Baker on Monday: 

The NCAA has developed a fan engagement database of 15 million people to connect fans with sports, schools, and events to increase revenue and support schools and events.

He was limited in what he could say about the pending NCAA’s NIL reform lawsuit that would see a $2.286 billion payment to student athletes. The settlement would include a commitment for schools to spend up to 50% of revenue on student athletes. It aims to create transparency and accountability in the NIL process and establish a more structured system.

He added that efforts are underway to align the transfer portal window with the academic calendar.