ACC Mandates Player Availability Reports to Combat Betting Pressures
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) will now require its teams to publish player availability reports for football, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball. This move is a direct response to the growing influence of sports betting and is designed to protect student-athletes from outside pressure.
A Direct Response to Sports Betting
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips stated that the decision aims to reduce the pressure on student-athletes from individuals seeking inside information for betting purposes. By providing clear and standardized reports, the conference hopes to minimize the risk of team personnel being compromised.
“This decision is directly connected to our ongoing commitment to best protect our student-athletes and our multi-faceted approach to addressing the effects of sports wagering,” Phillips said.
“There’s stresses on our student-athletes from individuals who are trying to garner information. Sometimes it’s pretty innocent. They just want to know because they’re a big fan. But other times it leads into the gambling and sports wagering path.”
Following the NFL Model
The new reports will be modeled after the NFL’s system, categorizing players as “available,” “questionable,” “doubtful,” or “out.” For football, reports will be released two days before games, with updates the day before and two hours before kickoff.
For basketball and baseball, reports will be published the day before games, with updates two hours before the start time.
The information will be published on the ACC’s official website, creating a single, reliable source for player status updates. Schools that fail to comply with the new policy will face fines, though the amounts have not yet been determined.
Joining a Growing Trend
The ACC is not the first conference to implement such measures. It joins the SEC, MAC, and Big Ten, all of which have introduced similar reporting requirements to protect the integrity of their games.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many ACC schools provided more formal availability reports, but transparency has decreased since then. This new policy formalizes and mandates a return to that practice across the entire conference.
Despite the potential loss of a competitive advantage, ACC coaches did not oppose the new requirement. Phillips acknowledged the tradition of “gamesmanship” in coaching but emphasized that this was the “right thing to do.”
“Safety has always been taken seriously by this league, and I applaud our schools for further enhancing and formalizing these important measures,” Phillips said. The move is seen as a proactive step to address the harassment of student-athletes by bettors, a problem that the NCAA has been grappling with on a national level.
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