NCAA Sounds Alarm on Betting Pressure Ahead of March Madness

NCAA president Charlie Baker raised fresh concerns about sports betting ahead of March Madness, pointing to player harassment, prop bets, and prediction markets as growing risks for college sports. Baker made those comments in an interview with CBS Mornings as the tournament began.

Good to Know

• Charlie Baker said abusive messages aimed at players, coaches, and officials are being driven by betting activity.
• Baker said the NCAA has pushed to remove prop bets from college sports.
• He also warned that prediction markets raise integrity concerns as March Madness gets underway.

Baker Puts Betting Pressure Front and Center

With March Madness close, Baker said one of the biggest problems is the abuse college athletes face when bets do not land. He told CBS News that harassment has become a routine part of the sports betting environment around college games.

“It’s thousands of really abusive messages that are being directed at young people and at coaches and officials, too … the bottom line is this is all being driven by betting,” Baker said in the interview on Wednesday.

He said the NCAA is already using outside help to deal with some of that behavior.

“We have a deal with Venmo to help us shut people off when they’re harassing some of the kids because they don’t deliver on their props. I mean, this is crazy town with respect to how this is working right now.”

Baker also returned to one of the NCAA most repeated positions on gambling policy. He said prop bets create extra pressure for college players, especially during the biggest games of the year.

“We’ve been big advocates of getting rid of prop bets in college sports. I think it puts enormous pressure on the kids who are just trying to play the games,” he noted. “If you track any of the nonsense they deal with both in the arena and on social media, it’s brutal. I think we’re the only league that actually hires somebody to track that stuff during our championships.”

He added that NCAA integrity monitoring has also helped uncover cases involving athletes tied to match-fixing efforts.

Prediction Markets Add Another Layer of Concern

Baker did not stop at sportsbooks. He also pointed to prediction markets, which have become more visible around sports and politics, and said the NCAA sees real problems there too.

“Well, first of all, you can start doing it at the age of 18, which, in almost every state, you can’t gamble legally until you’re 20 or 21. That’s problem number one,” Baker said. “Problem number two is, they don’t collect the kind of data that you’re required to collect if you’re a sportsbook.”

Baker said the NCAA sent a letter laying out those concerns and wants to be part of the ongoing process with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“We sent them a long letter that outlined all of our concerns, and frankly, they said to us that the entity that oversees them, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, actually enters into memorandums of understanding with interested parties,” he added. “And I think we’re an interested party in this.”

For Baker, the issue is not only betting access. It is also about game integrity, athlete protection, and how far prediction products may reach into college sports. With March Madness about to begin, that debate is getting louder.

“They said they would publish our letter as part of their public comment period, and then we’re looking forward to having a discussion with them, and if we don’t get anywhere with them, we’ll explore other options to deal with that.”