Harvard University Says NO to Collegiate Sports Betting

Massachusetts colleges have entered campaigns against the regulation of the state's collegiate sports betting. With the sports betting commodity edging closer to a legally legal state, universities have said they would reject gambling on college sporting events.

With the state finding new income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, sports betting is one of the financing streams that could boost the coffers of the state. However, if House Bill 4887 is approved by lawmakers, school boards and universities want to ensure that wagering on college sports is ruled out.

A number of colleges and universities have come together and delivered a letter to policymakers asking them to rethink any wording that would clear the door for wagers on activities at the college level.

With Harvard University among the most popular schools on the list, a total of seven schools signed off under the letter sent Friday. The Harvard Crimson, the university's own media outlet, has called many logos, including Boston College, Boston University, the College of the Holy Cross, Merrimack College, Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts, and Harvard presidents and athletic directors.

Massachusetts closer to sports betting, but new challenge emerges

Massachusetts has sought to become one of the 20 states that are currently controlling their gaming sectors, and especially sports betting. HB 4887 reached a hurdle in July when it was presented to the Senate floor by the House of Representatives with language that allowed sportsbooks to make bets on college sports.

The Senate did not approved the bill and handed it over to the house for amendments. The Senate's opinion clearly reflects the concern articulated in the letter sent to policymakers, which explicitly that: "Based on our years of experience, most of us agrees that such regulations would create needless and unreasonable risks for student athletes, their colleagues on campus, and for the reputation and ethos of the Commonwealth colleges and universities."

In reality, sports leagues made a similar statement about the sports betting as a whole. Leagues believed sportsbooks should pay required honesty premiums because they wanted the extra revenue to avoid illegal conduct. But they could never show how honesty premiums would help battle match-fixing and the proposal was abandoned easily.

Indeed, many have suggested that the illicit gaming industry now sells bets on college events and that only by legalizing gambling can college gambling be moderated. Also groups such as the NCAA, NFL and MLB have decided that naming rights should be managed by athletes of their own name and logo, granting ownership to athletes and leaving the middle man out.