NCAA President Charlie Baker called for stronger state and federal regulation of sports betting prop bets and urged regulators to suspend prediction markets. He cited a 2024 report and testimony from student athletes to support the need for action.

Baker encouraged state gambling commissions to strengthen regulations aimed at eliminating gambling on individual prop bets. He also recommended that the regulatory body overseeing prediction markets suspend these markets until new regulations can be imposed. The NCAA began a campaign in 2023 to advocate for increased regulations on sports betting to protect student athletes.

Baker discussed these issues in an interview on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," which was taped on July 1, 2024, and aired on a Sunday. He stated he began addressing the issue in the spring of 2023 due to student athletes reporting abuse related to prop bets. "I started talking about that pretty much as soon as I got the job in the spring of '23 because I heard about it a lot from student athletes, who said the noise and the abuse that they were taking from betters around prop bets was really disturbing," Baker said.

A 2024 NCAA report on online abuse in its championships identified nearly 750 instances of sports betting-related abuse and match-fixing allegations. These incidents accounted for 12% of all abuse documented in the report. A separate 2025 study reported that 36% of Division I men's basketball student athletes experienced social media abuse related to sports betting within the previous year.

Baker outlined the impact of such abuse on student athletes. "Go sit in the stands behind the bench at a big time college basketball game, and just listen to some of this stuff that's being directed at the kids who are part of those teams," Baker said. He added, "Honestly, it's disgraceful, it's demeaning, and it's incredibly demoralizing for student athletes." Baker expressed his hope that, through collaboration with professional leagues and colleagues, they could reduce and eliminate negative prop bets at the collegiate level.

The NCAA operates a surveillance program during all major championships, which monitors social media traffic. This program notifies authorities about content considered aggressive toward coaches, players, or officials to have it removed from platforms. The NCAA also notifies local authorities when particularly aggressive abuse is directed at student athletes.

Why It Matters

The call for stronger regulation addresses concerns about student athlete well-being during an increase in sports betting. The data from NCAA reports and studies shows the extent of online abuse and match-fixing allegations that student athletes encounter. The NCAA's efforts to regulate these betting practices, including a surveillance program, indicate an organizational response to protect its athletes.