Oliver Canning is a current 3L and L.L.M. candidate at the University of Miami School of Law. He discusses in an interview below his recent article “Baffling Bets”, which examines the evolving legal and regulatory landscape of collegiate sports betting. In “Baffling Bets,” Canning provides a timely analysis of the “urgent and complex challenge” legalized sports betting poses to the integrity of college athletics. The paper proposes a robust “National Collegiate Sports Integrity Framework” and offers actionable recommendations to help the College Sports Commission navigate this new frontier while prioritizing student-athlete welfare.” Canning reflects below on his research process, key findings, and what he hopes readers take away from the work.
What initially drew you to this topic, and what questions were you most interested in when you began working on this piece?
This was a process that Professor Carfagna and I started back in May of last year, where I had taken a few of his classes as a student and really expressed interest in writing a piece in general. Right around the time where we were brainstorming was when it was announced that the NCAA was considering legislation that would allow student athletes to begin to gamble on professional sports. If I’m being perfectly honest, my first thought when I heard that was, “This is a really, really bad idea, with some potentially serious unintended consequences.” It seemed like they were just going full steam ahead with really no regard for the effects that it could have on the student athletes, on their universities.
Where does the NCAA go with this? What sorts of protections, what sorts of regulations are going to be put into place?
How did it feel to be writing about an issue that was actively unfolding in real time?
It was definitely a little surreal to be working on this paper and developing these ideas while at the same time seeing these current events in the news. For example, I had sent in one of my drafts for the paper one day, and then that night was when the NCAA voted to approve the legislation to move forward. I had to go back and adjust certain things frequently. But seeing these current events happening as I was writing just reinforced to me the value or the importance of the issue that I was writing about.
For readers who don’t closely follow sports law, how would you explain the challenges that expanded sports betting presents for college athletics?
At a basic level, the issue is how closely gambling, whether legal or illegal, has become tied to sports.
Terry Rozier, a player who currently is with the Miami Heat, but at the time was with the Charlotte Hornets, was being investigated for his role in this potential gambling scheme. And then over the summer, there was another NBA player, Malik Beasley, who was also accused of the same thing and investigated by both the NBA and the FBI. And then Jontay Porter actually was punished and ultimately banned for life by the NBA.
What you’re seeing is these bad actors (including mafia and mob-related organizations) exerting influence on very vulnerable athletes who may have a gambling problem or are otherwise at risk. You’re opening the door to gambling. You’re opening the door to the influence of these bad people who are looking to take advantage of athletes. It’s a very vulnerable population, especially in college athletics, where a lot of these players are younger and still figuring things out and oftentimes have less resources around them.
If you’re a fan watching the game, and you can’t trust that the players who are playing in it are going as hard as they possibly can, I think it’s a lot less valuable of a product to watch. At that point, I think it really starts to undermine competition and what makes sports meaningful in the first place.
What surprised you most as you researched and wrote this article?
What was probably most surprising to me was the medical literature that really is supporting a lot of these ties between high performance athletes and risky behavior, and in particular things like gambling. Until I began writing this paper, I didn’t realize how serious a public health issue gambling and gambling addiction really are. Many of these individuals have huge risk factors in their lives that are massively impacting their ability to make decisions.
Did you see that medical research reflected in the regulatory approaches currently being considered?
No, I don’t really think so. That’s something that I really advocated for in the paper — sort of a safe harbor for athletes. The thing I worry about most is the NCAA or professional sports coming down with an iron fist on every single case. I think the best way to approach a problem like gambling is to really encourage these players to be forthcoming and to seek help. I think there needs to be more examination of the public health factors.
Did your assumptions about existing compliance and oversight mechanisms change as you researched further?
My initial assumption was that the oversight mechanisms were a lot more robust than they truly are in reality. To use the Terry Rozier example, where the FBI was able to come in and make arrests, they have a lot of access to potential betting data at the federal level and I think that in those instances, it’s very easy to have oversight. However, what I found more generally is that it’s a patchwork system. Not every league works with the same partners, and no one entity is really seeing the full picture. And so I think it’s incredibly hard when you are faced with an issue that is a crossover between multiple different sports or a case that doesn’t rise to the federal level. When you don’t have the same oversight body looking at that data, it becomes a lot harder to connect the dots. It’s especially challenging when the leagues don’t have that same subpoena power or investigative power.
How does this article fit into your broader academic and professional interests?
Becoming a student of sports law, especially under the guidance of Professor Carfagna, opened the door for me to write and dig into a growing issue in the space. This piece truly represented the most substantive opportunity to do a deep dive into something that has been a trending issue in sports law. It’s an area of sports law that I think is continuing to grow, and is in increasing need of regulation. It’s been very meaningful for me to get to explore it.
What do you hope readers take away from your article?
The need for regulation now, as opposed to continued advancement of this convergence of gambling and college athletics. I don’t think it makes sense to move forward with this legislation without further restrictions and a longer look at the potential effects of the push to embrace gambling in college athletics.
Learn more by reading Oliver’s piece below:
