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A bipartisan bill in Congress would hit colleges with fines of 5% to 20% of gross athletics receipts if they field former professional athletes or athletes who have bet on college sports.
The Fair Play Enforcement Act does not say how it would treat college athletes who trade on prediction markets.
What the Fair Play Enforcement Act Would Do
U.S. Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) introduced the bill earlier this month. It would penalize athletic departments that roster former pro athletes. It would also fine departments that knowingly admit student-athletes who previously engaged in sports betting.
The penalty applies if a school “knew or reasonably should have known” that an athlete had previously bet on college sports or played professionally. The bill would require athletic departments to thoroughly vet incoming freshmen and transfer students before they compete.
The professional-play restriction applies only to the specific sport in question. Under the bill’s example, a former NFL player could return to play college baseball but would be barred from college football.
The bill defines a banned gambler as someone who has placed any wager on any intercollegiate athletic event or competition.
Fines Scale With Each Violation
The fines are excise-tax style penalties based on a school’s gross athletics receipts:
- First offense: 5%
- Second violation: 10%
- Third and later violations: 20%
For Penn State, the estimated cost would be almost $13 million for a first offense, $25.5 million for a second and $51 million for a third.
Smith said in a statement that recent developments “continue to put the values and traditions that make college sports unique at risk.” Boyle said schools “should not be fielding players who have bet on games or who have been on professional sports teams,” and that the bill creates a financial consequence for schools that cross that line.
Smith also told News Channel Nebraska: “I am proposing a tax be levied on a university that would be complicit with these athletes. We just introduced the bill. I am eager to hear from various universities.”
Prediction Markets and Other Open Questions
The bill does not say whether a college athlete who trades a college sports event contract on a prediction market would count as an excluded person. That gap matters because the bill’s banned-gambler definition centers on placing a wager.
Smith is also a chief sponsor of the PREDICT Act, which targets insider trading on prediction markets by government officials.
More from gamingtoday.com
- Pennsylvania Bill Would Set New Rules for Prediction Markets
- Pennsylvania Report Recommends Ending In-Game Sports Betting to Combat Addiction
- Nebraska Online Sports Betting Push Moves Toward Ballot Box
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Source: As reported by casino.org.
