Consumer Advocacy Group Calls Foul On NCAA Sports Wager Deal With Genius

By Barry Janoff

April 28, 2025: Last week, the NCAA unveiled a “a significant extension of its long-term partnership” with Genius Sports, which had been “appointed as the exclusive distributor of official NCAA data to licensed sportsbooks for all post-season tournaments, including March Madness, through 2032.”

Today, the NCAA was called out by a public advocacy group claiming that “the NCAA is recklessly claiming that the sale of data will reduce the risks associated with prop betting.”

According to the NCAA, under the expanded agreement, “This long-term agreement ensures the delivery of fast, accurate, and secure data to the regulated sports betting market . . . Genius Sports will also collaborate with participating licensees to strengthen integrity protections and promote responsible betting practices, including limiting risky bet types, ensuring compliance and safeguarding student-athletes.”

But the Public Health Advocacy Institute says “the deal is just the tip of an extremely dangerous iceberg in college sports.”

Dr. Harry Levant, director of Gambling Policy at PHAI, warns that the NCAA is recklessly claiming that the sale of data will reduce the risks associated with prop betting.

"The NCAA has increased the risk of harm," Dr. Levant said via PHAI. "People will now wager on virtually everything that college players do in each game.

“To justify this, the NCAA claims the money from selling data will fund education programs. This is the equivalent of the tobacco industry offering the non-stop sale of cigarettes and then using the revenue to fund education programs. The justification offered by the NCAA is disingenuous at best."

Based in Boston, the Public Health Advocacy Institute is a nonprofit legal research center focused on public health law located at Northeastern University School of Law.

"Next, we'll see enormous deals negotiated by the NCAA conferences to sell even more data to the gambling industry," said Dr. Levant. "This will have a far-reaching impact on college athletics and the public."

During the recently concluded Men’s and Women’s Div. I Basketball Tournaments, people legally wagered $3.1 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2024, according to the American Gaming Assn.

“This growth underscores the expanding legal sports betting market and the growing trust in legal wagering options,” said the American Gaming Assn.

However, the $3.1 billion figure was only part of the estimated total amount that could be wagered this season. In 2023, the American Gaming Assn. report indicated that $15.5 billion could be wagered on the NCAA tournaments, but that estimate also included bracket pools and wagers with unlicensed sportsbooks and bookmakers.

With the wagering comes impactful issues.

According to the NCAA, “1-in-3 student-athletes have received abusive messages from those with a betting interest, with 80% of the abuse directed at March Madness men's and women's student-athletes.

“Women's basketball student-athletes receive approximately three times more threats than men's basketball student-athletes.”

The NCAA found that 18% of all abuse was sexual, making it the most prevalent type of abuse used to target male and female student-athletes.

"The horrific messages we are seeing across online platforms is absolutely unacceptable," NCAA president Charlie Baker said via the organization.

The NCAA unveiled a March Madness multi-media PSA campaign is to “call attention to the alarming prevalence of abuse and harassment student-athletes face from angry fans who lost a bet.”

According to the NCAA, “With sports betting legal in more than 39 states and more than half of college-age students reporting having bet on sports at least once in the previous year, it's clear that sports betting has become a part of how fans consume sports.

“However, it also creates a serious threat to the well-being of our student-athletes and to the integrity of NCAA competition.”

As part of its umbrella “Draw the Line” platform, the NCAA launched “Don’t Be a Loser,” anchored by a spot that ran during the Div. I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments on media partners CBS, TNT, TBS, truTV, ESPN and ABC; as well as online and social media.

NCAA: 'Draw the Line'However, with the Genius Sports deal, according to PHAI founder and president Richard Daynard via the organization, “The NCAA decided it would join the gambling industry rather than fight it. This collaboration with the gambling industry further demonstrates the need for a comprehensive public health response at both the federal and state levels.

"At PHAI we will continue to take a leadership role and look to protect the public by advancing important public health measures to regulate the out-of-control gambling industry."

According to Mark Gottlieb, executive director of PHAI, via the organization, "The NCAA, unfortunately, missed an opportunity to take a leadership position in the burgeoning movement to bring comprehensive public health reform to the gambling industry.

“The public health movement is focused on regulating gambling as an addictive product. Unfortunately, the NCAA chose to take gambling industry money, which will result in increased high-intensity micro-betting, with it, addiction, and serious harm to players, their families, and the public."

Daynard, Gottlieb and Levant also criticized the NCAA's lack of transparency around the deal.

"The NCAA fails to tell the public that this deal with Genius also enriches the National Football League," said Dr. Levant. "The NFL is a major shareholder in Genius.

“Repeatedly, we've seen the gambling industry and its sports and media partners prioritize profits over public health. This is why our work at PHAI is vitally important — and only just beginning."

A Better Way: NCAA Effort Targets Betting-Related Harassment Of Student-Athletes

Games Of Chance: March Madness Legal Wagering Expected To Top $3B In ’25

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