By Jack Klingler, Santa Clara University School of Law
In May 2018, the Supreme Court paved the way for legalized sports betting by invalidating the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).[1] Since this landmark decision, sports betting’s prevalence has skyrocketed with more than 38 states legalizing sports betting.[2] Additionally, the amount gambled by Americans has continued to increase since its legalization. In 2024, Americans wagered a record $147.9 billion on sports, a 23.6% increase from 2023.[3] Even more concerning than its recent growth in popularity is the ripple effect legalized sports betting has had on amateur athletics and the college sports landscape. With greater access to online platforms enabling sports betting, there has been a noticeable increase in student-athletes, team staff members, and coaches placing sports bets in clear violation of NCAA policy.
To ensure game integrity and limit the potential threats of sports betting on college athletics, the NCAA has rules regulating sports wagering activities. In the NCAA Bylaws, Article 10 establishes the ethical conduct individuals associated with member institutions of the NCAA must adhere to.[4] Bylaw 10.3 specifies that staff members of an institution’s athletics department and student-athletes are prohibited from knowingly participating in sports wagering activities or providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur, or professional athletics competition. Put simply, student-athletes and athletics staff members, regardless of sport or division, are prohibited from sports betting or providing any useful information that can influence a bet in any NCAA-sponsored sport.[5] However, a recent federal investigation into a gambling ring and its connection to several college basketball programs has evidenced the need for greater NCAA oversight and transparency.
In February 2025, ESPN first reported that an NBA gambling ring was also tied to college basketball programs. Specifically, the ring placed bets on games involving Temple, North Carolina A&T, Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State, and New Orleans.[6] Several of the games involving these teams were flagged due to unusual betting activity. Despite these allegations, the NCAA has not specified its role in the investigation nor has it provided any updates on the matter. In a statement to ESPN and other media outlets, the NCAA said, “[it] takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition.” Additionally, “[t]he Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever suspicious reports are received. Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current or potential investigations.”[7] Despite the NCAA’s silence, both North Carolina A&T and New Orleans suspended players during the ongoing investigation suggesting some form of involvement in the suspected illegal sports betting conduct.
In addition to the ongoing gambling ring investigation, the NCAA recently took disciplinary action against five Iowa State football support staff members. In total, the staff members placed more than 6,200 bets, wagering over $100,000 on professional and college games, including Iowa State basketball games.[8] In a negotiated resolution, the accused staff members admitted they violated the NCAA bylaws and are now subject to a one-year show-cause order through April 24, 2026. As a result, if another NCAA member institution hires one of the staff members, they will be required to attend the NCAA Regional Rules Seminar and serve a two-week suspension. The NCAA concluded that the staff members’ betting activity constituted a Level II infraction under NCAA Bylaw 19.1.3, suggesting the betting activity was “conduct that may compromise the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model as set forth in the bylaws.”[9]
Lastly, in addition to integrity monitoring, the NCAA recently expanded e-learning content to educate student-athletes about handling abusive threats and the risks of sports betting. The NCAA stated in an article that this initiative and others “have been developed and implemented to help protect student-athlete well-being and mental health to safeguard the overall student-athlete experience in a rapidly evolving landscape.”[10] The NCAA noted that over 80,000 student-athletes, coaches, and administrators had been reached as part of its educational programs.
As the prevalence of sports betting continues to rise across all facets of competition, its impact on college athletics cannot be ignored. The recent federal investigation into the sports betting ring and the NCAA sanctions for Iowa State staff members highlight the need for improved transparency and oversight. While the NCAA has made comprehensive educational tools available to student-athletes, the increasing amount of sports betting controversies warrant a more proactive and preventative approach. Game integrity is critical to college athletics, and the NCAA must adapt to ensure the foundational principle of fair competition is upheld.
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Leading Title IX Lawyer Arthur Bryant Starts His Own Firm
Arthur Bryant, arguably the nation’s leading plaintiffs’ attorney when it comes to Title IX matters, has launched his own law firm.
Recognized twice by The National Law Journal as one of the “100 Most Influential Attorneys in America” and the regular subject of articles detailing his activities in Title IX Alert, Bryant will not skip a beat when it comes to fighting for the rights of women (and men) in the collegiate athletics industry.
“It makes no difference whether I am at a 100-person law firm, or a small boutique law firm with a handful of carefully selected associates, we will continue to fight sex discrimination in intercollegiate athletics against women and men in violation of Title IX,” Bryant told Sports Litigation Alert.
Bryant, who can be reached at Arthur Bryant Law, most recently served as a partner at The Clarkson Law Firm, and Bailey & Glasser, LLC before that.
But it was work prior to those firms that first established Bryant as a force to be reckoned with for schools violating women’s rights.
As a young attorney, Bryant tried the precedent-setting class action that forced the admission of women to Philadelphia’s previously all-male Central High School. Four years later, he was the lead trial counsel in the country’s first Title IX class action against a school for discriminating against its female athletes, Haffer v. Temple University.
In 1984, Arthur left private practice, took a 50% pay cut, and joined Public Justice (then Trial Lawyers for Public Justice) as its sole staff attorney. He became Executive Director in 1987 and was named Chairman in 2014, his 30th anniversary with the organization. In 2019, his 35th anniversary, he became Chairman Emeritus and returned to private practice.
When Bryant became Executive Director, the organization had two staff (Arthur and the receptionist), a small office in Washington DC, fewer than 25 annual members, a $275,000 budget, and very few cases on its docket. When he became Chairman Emeritus, it had 43 staff (including 23 attorneys), offices on both coasts, over 2,700 members, an $8 million annual budget, and a broader range of high-impact, precedent-setting cases than any public interest organization in the country.
After his entry into private practice, Bryant continued to fight for the public interest, at both Bailey Glasser, LLP, and the Clarkson Law Firm. In a case with huge national implications, he successfully represented 93 plaintiffs’ law firms and 167 trial lawyers as amici curiae to help challenge and stop a proposed class action settlement of future Roundup claims – including claims by people who had no injury or cancer now and may not have any for decades. He also helped defeat Meta’s attempt to use Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to avoid liability for its role in creating and running scam investment ads in Australia that are cheating people out of their life’s savings.
Fighting sex discrimination, Bryant and his co-counsel won Title IX settlements preserving women’s intercollegiate athletic opportunities and advancing gender equity at Brown University, the College of William & Mary, Dartmouth College, Dickinson College, East Carolina University, Florida State University, La Salle University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and the University of St. Thomas. In April 2021, he and his co-counsel made legal history when Clemson University became the first school to face sex discrimination lawsuits from both its male and female student-athletes for violations of Title IX. The settlement with Clemson was the nation’s first Title IX victory for men – and helped ensure equal athletic financial aid and treatment for women at the university, too.
Bryant and his co-counsel are now prosecuting the first Title IX cases in the country seeking damages against schools for depriving women athletes of equal athletic financial aid and equal treatment, including in regard to NIL: name, image, and likeness. And, as co-counsel with MoloLamken LLP, he is challenging the proposed class action antitrust settlement in House v. NCAA, which would pay over $2.5 billion to college athletes, with less than 10% going to women, and eliminate roster spots for tens of thousands of college athletes nationwide.
Bryant told Sportico recently that he is carefully watching the House v. NCAA settlement, which could have enormous Title IX implications.
“Because of the House v. NCAA settlement,” Bryant told the sports business publication, “some schools are going to be eliminating women’s teams in violation of Title IX and sometimes even men’s teams in violation of Title IX, and any school that decides it is going to make name, image and likeness [payments] disproportionately to men is opening itself up to a massive Title IX damages lawsuit. While my new law firm will not be limited to Title IX cases, it seems like a perfect time to do this.”
In November 2021, The National Law Journal honored Bryant as a “Sports Law Trailblazer” for his success enforcing Title IX, advancing gender equity, and fighting sex discrimination in intercollegiate athletic programs nationwide. As part of that work, Bryant has successfully represented more women (and men) in Title IX litigation than any lawyer in the country.
[1] See generally New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Ass’n v. Nat’l Collegiate Athletic Ass’n, 584 U.S. 453 (2018).
[2] https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/
[3] https://frontofficesports.com/americans-bet-148-billion-on-sports-in-2024-up-23-6/
[4] https://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/D125.pdf
[5] https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2016/4/29/sports-wagering.aspx
[6] https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/44025939/reports-new-orleans-hoop-suspensions-possible-ncaa-violations
[7] https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/43680104/sources-gambling-ring-tied-college-basketball-games
[8] https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/44969352/ncaa-disciplines-5-iowa-state-staffers-sports-gambling
[9] https://web3.ncaa.org/lsdbi/bylaw?ruleId=2999&refDate=20240809
[10] https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/5/17/media-center-sports-betting-culture-negatively-impacts-mental-health-ncaa-works-to-support-student-athletes.aspx
