Skip to main content
Texas
Join Now

For Steve Sarkisian, athletes' access to sports wagering is a "major concern"

Joe Cookby: Joe Cook04/29/26josephcook89

Late in the 2025 season, a proposed rule that would have allowed student-athletes to gamble on professional sports was rescinded by two-thirds of Division I schools. The rule would have altered the previous restrictions on sports gambling by NCAA athletes which prohibited any wagering anywhere by student-athletes on any sport sponsored by the NCAA. That standard remains in place.

[Sign up for Inside Texas for $1! Get the latest on the Longhorns HERE]

For that level of consensus to be reached among the diverse swath of Division I members speaks to the aversion many schools, athletic departments, and coaches have for sports betting. That is especially so with players having more spending money than ever thanks to NIL, and also with the proliferation of sports betting in the United States.

It’s also seen very clearly in recent events surrounding Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who has allegedly placed thousands of wagers since entering college in 2022 and checked himself into a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction this week.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was on the Craig Way Show on Tuesday on AM 1300 The Zone in Austin and spoke to the current issue facing coaches, student-athletes, and schools. Sarkisian was glad the NCAA stepped in to rescind the ruling but still has concerns about what student-athletes have available to them.

“I said in a press conference, does this sound like a good idea?” Sarkisian said. “We’re paying the players. We just legalized paying the players, and we have revenue share, publicity rights, all these things. We went from NIL to that. So do we think it’s a good idea to let them now gamble the money away? Is that’s what’s healthy? Is that why we decided to say let’s have revenue sharing, and pay the players, then let’s legalize gambling so we can give the money back to people that didn’t do anything to deserve it?”

Though sports gambling is not legalized in Texas, ways to access wagering or analogs like daily fantasy are available to those who seek it out. The Longhorns have not found any of their student-athletes in a high-profile controversy like the one Sorsby currently finds himself in, but the athletic department has not been immune to the issue. Texas self-reported six NCAA violations related to sports wagering in December according to the Austin American-Statesman. The athletic department did similar in 2024. It’s not clear if any of those wagers were placed by student-athletes. However, NCAA restrictions are in place for all members of athletic departments.

It’s a topic coaches have to face and bring up with their players more and more. Education is key according to Sarkisian, but it’s another thing he has to keep his eye on as the head coach of a major college football program. Plus, it’s not just about the idea of influencing a game, but also the idea of the pitfalls created by access to sports books on cell phones and other technology.

“Is it a concern of mine? Of course it is,” Sarkisian said. “It’s a major concern of mine, and that’s one snippet of concern when you start talking about some of the money that these guys are making and our job to educate them and what to do with that money, especially when they have the free time coming up in the month of May. It’s a major concern.”

You may also like