00:00The NCAA is cracking down on student-athletes who may have violated sports betting rules.
00:05The latest scandal involves 13 men's college basketball players from six different schools.
00:14The 13 players are not being named until the investigation is finished.
00:19They were associated with Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North
00:24Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State.
00:28The NCAA said while the alleged behaviors in each case vary, they include players betting
00:33on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting,
00:40manipulating scoring or game outcomes, and failing to cooperate with investigators.
00:46NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement, the rise of sports betting is creating more
00:51opportunity for athletes across sports to engage in this unacceptable behavior.
00:57And while legalized sports betting is here to stay, regulators and gaming companies can
01:01do more to reduce these integrity risks by eliminating prop bets and giving sports leagues a seat at
01:08the table when setting policies.
01:10Schools and respective staff in the ongoing cases were not involved in the violations and
01:15will not be punished, the NCAA said.
01:18Thursday's announcement comes just 24 hours after the NCAA revoked the eligibility of three
01:23former Fresno State men's basketball players for betting on their own games.
01:28An investigation found Mikel Robinson manipulated his performance and conspired with two other
01:34players to place bets on his statistics.
01:37During the game, Robinson altered his performance with three points scored, two rebounds, one
01:43three-pointer and no assists to ensure the underlying bets won.
01:48The investigations could reignite the debate around sports betting and whether the federal
01:52government should step in with some form of regulation.
01:56The Safe Bet Act was introduced during March Madness.
01:59The bill aims to address advertising affordability and the use of artificial intelligence by online
02:06sports books, said Representative Paul Tonko.
02:09When every single solitary moment of every sporting event across the globe has become a betting
02:15opportunity in the palm of your hand, government must put its duty to protect its citizens from
02:21harm first.
02:22Until more regulations and possible penalties are in place, organizations like the NCAA say
02:28they're going to rely on their network of sources and enforcement staff to monitor unusual
02:34betting activities around certain games and players.
02:37For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis.
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