The Division I Council presented the proposal that will be considered this fall and be carried out if D-II and D-III authorities also authorize. The NCAA would still bar banking on college sports and sharing details about college athletic competitions with wagerers. Advertising and sponsorships connected with betting are also not permitted at NCAA champion events.

The shift comes as the nation's biggest governing body for college sports grapples with the growth of legalized gaming across the United States. NCAA president Charlie Baker and other college sports leaders have actually raised issues about gamblers attacking professional athletes on social media for their play, and there have actually been scattered claims, including some this year, against programs including betting.

Still, the NCAA has acknowledged the difficulties in barring adult athletes at numerous schools from gambling on pro sports. Two years ago, it made reinstatement policies more lenient, and the NCAA has a multiyear partnership with Genius Sports, which disperses main NCAA information to certified sportsbooks, a plan that disallows unfavorable prop bets.

"NCAA guidelines prohibiting sports wagering at all levels were composed and embraced at a time when sports gaming was mostly prohibited across the country," stated Josh Whitman, the athletic director at the University of Illinois and the chairman of the Division I Council, wrote in an NCAA release. "As banking on sports has become more widely accepted across the country, Division I members have actually identified that further discussion of these sports wagering guidelines is warranted, especially as it relates to the prospective distinctions between banking on expert vs. college sports."

Current NCAA rules do not allow athletes or institutional personnel to engage in wagering for any sports that have NCAA championships; bets by an athlete on their own team or own sport risks a lifetime ban from college athletics.

"The enforcement staff's sports betting-related caseload has actually substantially increased in the last few years, and our staff - including our brand-new sports betting integrity system - has worked in spotting and pursuing offenses," said Jon Duncan, the NCAA's vice president of enforcement.

"By fulfilling student-athletes where they are, schools might be more reliable at avoiding, determining and supporting student-athletes with troublesome betting habits," Casiero said in the NCAA release.

In an anticipated relocation, the Division I Board of Directors this week formally adopted sports-specific roster limits as part of the $2.8 billion House v. NCAA antitrust claim settlement that likewise allows profits sharing with student-athletes and allows schools to award as many scholarships as they want within the lineup caps.

- Endorsed an advised cap of 32 regular-season games in both men's and women's basketball start with the 2026-27 season. Critics consist of the organizers of tournaments held early in the season; they say the change might result in less marquee matches.

- Introduced a proposition to include flag football to the emerging sports for women program. Flag football has proliferated in popularity and will make its Olympic launching at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

- Voted to present proposals that, if likewise supported by Divisions II and III, would establish NCAA champions for ladies's stunt and women's balancings and toppling - two sports that have actually grown in popularity - as early as spring 2027.

- Voted to separate the scoring at the fencing championships to acknowledge winning groups in both men's and females's fencing. Currently, groups that have just ladies are statistically unable to win the national championship under the existing scoring format. The modification also needs backing by Divisions II and III.

- Rejected a waiver demand from Sacramento State that would have permitted it to play in the upper-tier Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent program in 2026.

Last week, the school stated it will leave the Big Sky Conference, whose football teams contend in the lower-tier FCS, and join the Big West Conference as a full member starting with the 2026-27 scholastic year. The Big West doesn't sponsor football, so the Hornets would be an FCS independent. Sacramento State has actually been unsuccessful in finding an FBS conference happy to include the California school as a member.