As DraftKings and FanDuel work to become a part of every second of our lives, the NCAA has caught wind. The organization released an interpretation of its rules that indicates it considers winnings from daily fantasy games to be gambling.
Ads by FanDuel and DraftKings during college games pair awkwardly with NCAA rules
Some leagues appear to want nothing to do with daily fantasy, but it’s hard to resist that sweet TV ad money.
As Mississippi State athletics director Scott Stricklin tweeted while listening to NCAA executive Oliver Luck...
… any athlete found to be gambling on college sports (includes daily fantasy such as Draft Kings) automatically loses a year of eligibility.
— Scott Stricklin (@stricklinMSU) September 22, 2015 On one level, that makes sense. Athletes should not be betting on games in which they’re playing. But if a college fencer wants to spend $3 a week to bet on college football, where’s the harm?
The NCAA is an old-school league and has long been against gambling ... in certain situations. Take the Pac-12, which wrote a strongly worded letter along with the rest of the power conference commissioners, asking DraftKings and FanDuel to stop allowing users to play fantasy college games. SB Nation reached out to the Pac-12 for a copy of the letter, but the league said it was "private."
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott first said the league’s network would not air ads from daily fantasy sites, but it appears the league will still do so.
Pac-12 clarifies that it is accepting ads from DraftKings & FanDuel during its game broadcasts, as long as it doesn't promote college game
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 22, 2015 Over in the SEC, Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said the league asked ESPN to not air DraftKings and FanDuel ads on the SEC Network.
I think they were hesitant. I think for them they see it as a new sponsorship and any time they come to table with that kind of dollars for sponsorship, they're a profit entity and they're trying to make money, so yeah, I think they were kind of just hesitant at first, but then I think they did listen. We have a great partnership with ESPN. We have a committee in the SEC that meets with them on a quarterly basis, so we met with them and they did say it would impact some revenue for us.
ESPN is putting more resources into bringing fans gambling news. The company did end the practice of including “cover alerts” in college games but, according to ESPN VP John Wildhack, the gambling references on ESPN will continue. For at least some of the leagues, however, the line appears to be putting those ads on conference networks.
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