New NCAA regulations are under consideration in Congress after members of the House subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection criticized a variety of the NCAA's practices Wednesday. The subcommittee's main concerns focused on insurance for athletes and gambling on college athletics.
U.S. Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, D-NV, was the most vocal critic, denouncing the NCAA for trying to institute a federal ban on gambling on college sports and for providing inadequate health and life insurance for athletes.
"The NCAA has done nothing to ease the poverty in which many student athletes are forced to live," Berkley said at the committee hearing.
She cited statistics showing average scholarships for college athletes provide $2,000 less than students need to cover the cost of attending school.
NCAA spokesman Wallace Renfro said scholarships "cover the full cost of education, but not the full cost of attendance."
Renfro said if the NCAA increased scholarship money, schools might have to cut some of their sports teams to compensate for the extra costs.
Following the death of University of Florida football player Eraste Autin last summer, Berkley called for health and life insurance for all college athletes.
Autin suffered heat stroke that led to a heart attack after a football practice last July. Autin's family received no money from the NCAA because he died during an unsupervised voluntary practice.
"Voluntary practices are covered now if there is a supervisor present," Renfro said.
This latest debate is not the first between the NCAA and Berkley, whose home state of Nevada is the only state where college gambling remains legal. The NCAA favors a federal law banning betting on amateur sports, but she maintains that states should decide such matters themselves, and that the NCAA should focus on combating illegal college gambling.
"Gambling on college sports runs the risk of destroying the integrity of the games," Renfro said
Berkley's Press Secretary Michael O'Donovan said Nevada's collegiate gambling is well regulated and helps reveal illegal point shaving. Point shaving occurs when players ensure the final score falls within a certain range that gamblers set before the game begins.
"Without [the legal gamblers] help, you would have no sense of illegal betting," O'Donovan said.
Berkley said the NCAA does not spend enough money preventing illegal gambling and illegal activities of sports agents, but Renfro claimed the organization is incapable of fighting the problems itself and must rely on help from law enforcement officials.
Berkley and Congressman Jim Gibbons, R-NV, recently proposed the National Collegiate and Amateur Athletic Protection Act to try to reduce illegal gambling on non-professional sports.
Aside from Berkley's complaints, the hearing also featured other members of Congress who raised concerns about disclosure of graduation rates for athletes and the NCAA's lax enforcement of punishments for sports agents who speak with college students.
O'Donovan said he is not sure when or if Congress will take action on the controversial legislation.
"This is the first time the issue has been raised," O'Donovan said.
Read More
From the Archives: Celebration and Reflection (4/28 - 5/4)
By Clara Franklin and Annabelle Nee | 2 hours agoFrom The Purple Shadows breaking into the Dean of Students’s office to multiple student athletes accused of honor code violations, the graduating class’s four years were a wild ride.
PBS NewsHour correspondent speaks on bringing humanity to international conflict
By Grace Little | YesterdaySchifrin's work exploring Putin’s Russia, his coverage of COVID-19 and his reporting in Afghanistan and Ukraine have earned him various accolades.
Spring meal swipe drive aims to tackle food insecurity at the University
By Nicolas Biernacki | YesterdayU.Va. Dine facilitated the drive by converting each meal swipe donated by a student into one pound of food that is then donated to the CFP.
