Sports betting becomes a significant topic at Kansas Athletics Board of Directors meeting
LAWRENCE — That sports betting came up at Kansas Athletics’ Board of Directors meeting in mid-June should come as no surprise.
Yes, there’s interest in the name, image and likeness (NIL) landscape and the state of the Big 12 Conference. The group had a future budget to discuss, and a fiscal year to review. But according to Kansas’ chancellor, Douglas Girod, sports betting was a hot topic during the recent Big 12 meetings.
So, here’s a look at how people at Kansas are approaching the sports betting landscape:
Proactive education on the matter
According to Megan Walawender, a deputy athletic director for compliance and legal affairs, sports betting has always been an area that compliance has provided education on. But it is an industry that has grown substantially, and apps make the ability to participate readily available. She said it’s an area they spend a lot of time on.
“The NCAA takes a very strict approach,” Walawender said, “that student-athletes are not allowed to participate in any bet on any sports that — whether professional, or collegiate, that are NCAA sports.”
Walawender added that it’s not just athletes they look to educate, but even student managers and those on their medical staff. It’s an effort to address any potential interest there may be from people to talk to more than just the athletes on the team about something like certain athletes’ availabilities — such as a quarterback or offensive lineman on the football team. Kansas is looking for not just athletes, but also student managers and members of the medical staff, to think critically about if someone is asking because they care or if they’re trying to procure information for a bet.
“Before the Iowa case happened, we’d already planned to have a professional speaker come in and talk about just gambling, gambling addiction, and how basically it created and changed his entire — the course of his life,” Walawender said. “We’re fortunate the NCAA actually provides that as a free resource, but we do continue to talk about that.”
Travis Goff, the school's athletic director, reiterated the importance of education for student managers and the medical staff, and referenced coaches and other support staff as well. He pointed to the situations that have affected Iowa and Iowa State, as well as Alabama baseball, as reminders of the ramifications of certain actions.
“More work to do,” Goff said, “because it’s only going to continue to grow in popularity and there’s only going to continue to be more strain for our young people.”
An effort to find a solution
Wayne Simien, an associate athletic director of engagement and outreach in the administration, said education is a great starting point. But as Goff did, Simien also spoke to the future. Simien, a former men's basketball player for the Jayhawks, noted it’s interesting to think about how they can one day look for everything to coexist in a way that everyone benefits.
“I don’t necessarily have the answer or the solution right here and now,” Simien said, “but it’s certainly something that we’ve got to keep the pulse on.”
Simien added he doesn’t want anything to jeopardize the integrity of the competitions or the athletes. As he echoed Walawender and Goff, he noted they go to great lengths to ensure athletes and staff are educated so they can protect themselves and Kansas.
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Athletics Board of Directors meeting addresses sports betting
