Georgia football is the number-one-ranked team in the nation — again. It’s a spot they’ve been familiar with over the last three years, a stretch that’s resulted in a pair of national championships and made Georgia sports betting a hot commodity.
The Bulldogs are fresh off a 13-12 win over Kentucky, the first SEC matchup of the season. They didn’t wow by any means, but hey, a win is a win (though they didn’t cover the spread for betting folks).
But lost in the hoopla of Georgia’s season was news of a staffer who was kicked off the team for sports betting. This happened a few months ago actually, but we’re getting wind of it now and felt compelled to share cause it could cause bigger ramifications down the line. Let’s recap what happened first before getting into that.
Sports Betting Ban Applies To More Than Just Players
We all know college players and coaches can’t make sports bets — that’s been drilled into our minds by now. But we sometimes forget the same rules apply to staffers hired by these teams. That could be ball boys, medical personnel, strength trainers, and everything in between.
Welp, a Georgia staffer learned that the really hard way at the end of July. This person who was not identified by name or title was booted off the prestigious program for violating those rules. But get this, the violations weren’t even recent.
The wagers happened all the way back in August of 2020 — the staffer was a team member at the time. The violations weren’t discovered, reviewed, and processed until 2023, according to Will Lawler, Georgia’s deputy athletic director who oversees compliance. Not only is this staffer gone, but they also have a bit of “record” in case they want to go elsewhere.
“If the staff member is hired by another SEC institution in the future the staff member is required to complete a sports gambling education program/session, and the hiring institution is required to submit a written plan to the Conference office for monitoring the staff member to assure he does not commit similar violations in the future,” according to UGA’s violation summary.
By now, Georgia and the college sports world, in general, are getting used to violations. The program also self-reported a betting rule break in 2022, which involved an actual player. The player was said to have been caught wagering in fantasy sports.
As a reminder, it’s a rules violation to bet on anything — not just your own sport or team. No betting is allowed of any kind even if it’s on the pro game or an international bet. Nothing!
“We’ve had issues with that in the past, too,” Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said in May of 2023. “It’s more prevalent. I can’t turn the TV on now without seeing something…There’s a lot of debate out there about what’s right and what’s wrong, but the NCAA rule is pretty harsh for gambling relative to some other things. It’s pretty obvious why. They don’t want that infiltrating teams.”
It’s funny Kirby is saying it’s more prevalent now than ever to see sports betting ads on TV. He’s got a point, which stirred up some politicians in another state. Get a load of the latest push to reign in sports betting that two lawmakers are making.
SAFE Act Being Canpaigned
That violation transpired in July, but just this month, the SAFE Act was detailed. Two lawmakers — New York Representative Paul Tonko and Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal — are behind the Act, which is short for Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet.
The act was announced earlier this year, but the framework was barely rolled out this month. It’s focused on sports betting advertising, but also artificial intelligence.
Let’s focus on advertisements since that’s what the Georgia coach hinted at on his own accord. The act wants to ban betting ads from TV broadcasts between 8 am and 10 pm. Of course, that’s the main TV viewing time and when sports are generally played live. Ads would, more or less, be regulated to weird times when only infomercials are on.
“Advertising for this known addictive product should be limited to times and spaces when children are not likely to be in the audience,” Tonko said.
Tonko also said that celebrities should not be “teaching you their favorite parlay” on ads — we’re looking at you guys, Matt Damon and Jamie Foxx (many celebrities have appeared in ads, but those two come to mind). Blumenthal also lashed out at the fact that sportsbooks “target losers” in their bonusing and advertising strategies. We’re not joking, he really said that. His exact words are as follows:
“Let’s be very clear: right now, the gambling industry methodically and relentlessly targets losers,” he said. “Because that’s where the money is. People who lose are losing to the benefit of the gambling industry.”
Will the SAFE Act pass? Probably not. The majority of states have already gotten in bed with legal sports betting, and it’s hard to sneak out for the “walk of shame” now. However, it is interesting to see the fallout of a mostly legal sports betting market across the United States.
We’re seeing the ugly byproducts of easy-to-use mobile betting apps, which are getting athletes and staff banned in all sports. Worst, some addictions are creeping into everyday bettors. How this shakes out long term is anyone’s guess but we do understand why things like the SAFE Act are popping up now.
