NCAA relents on championship games in sports betting states

College sports’ governing body, the NCAA, is backing off of its long-held policy of banning championship games in states that offer regulated sports betting. This unusual tip of the hat to the reality of modern life opens the door to NCAA basketball tournaments and football playoffs in scary sports betting-friendly locations like Nevada, West Virginia and Delaware.
The big professional sports leagues (and the NCAA is included in that group even thought its players are amateurs) have long opposed hosted big games in sports betting-friendly states because they feared interference and outright game fixing from organized crime elements. Apparently someone clued them to the fact that regulated markets take care of this sort of thing all on their own, so they don’t even have to worry anymore.
When it was enacted in 2012, the ban was seen as a direct reaction to New Jersey’s efforts to legalize sports betting in America. Apparently the the thought was that banning big games in sports betting states would shut down efforts to create regulated sports betting markets. That threat never amounted to much as more than 28 states have legalized, or are considering legalizing, sports betting.
This week’s decision paves the way for Las Vegas, and it’s soon-to-built football stadium, to become a major player in the college athletics hosting business. (Though it will be at least 2024 before Vegas can host any big time college athletics at its stadium, according to Forbes.)
In a tip of the hat to sports betting as a whole, the NCAA also announced that it will be requiring schools to participate in a national injury report (the current system is voluntary). Injury reports are a critical tool for sharp sports bettors who want to stay on top of the game.