NCAA Suspends Five College Baseball Players for Playing Fantasy Football

Five University of Richmond baseball players were suspended by the NCAA for playing fantasy football.

The University of Richmond baseball team has started the season with two wins in their first four games. Unfortunately, they’ve had to play those games without five players, including two of their top players, pitcher Keenan Bartlett and infielder/DH Kurtis Brown. The university announced the suspension of all five players on the day of the team’s opening game with a statement explaining that the players are ineligible to play until the NCAA completes a review and reinstates them.

The horrible deed that got these players suspended is fantasy football, something millions of people participate in every year. The NCAA considers fantasy football to be a form of gambling if there is a fee involved in order to participate. The federal government disagrees. Based on the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, fantasy sports are considered a game of skill and not gambling. Of course, the NCAA can make their own rules involving what student-athletes can and cannot do. In this case, the NCAA suspended the Richmond players.

The Richmond Times reported that the NCAA rule in question states:

"“You are not eligible to compete if you knowingly participate in any sports wagering activity that involves intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card or any other method employed by organized gambling. Examples of sports wagering include, but are not limited to, the use of a bookmaker or parlay card, Internet sports wagering; auctions in which bids are placed on teams, individuals or contests; and pools or fantasy leagues in which an entry fee is required.”"

It’s likely these players participated in a fantasy football league with an entry fee. It could have been $10 or $50 or $100; we don’t know for sure. No details have emerged yet as to how high the stakes were. Whatever the case, the players won’t play until the NCAA reinstates them.

This is, of course, ludicrous. Yes, they broke the rule, but the rule is silly. NCAA sports generate a ton of gambling every year and the NCAA knows it and benefits from it. Millions of people gamble on the college bowl games. There are college bowl game contests all over the Internet in December. This is even more true for March Madness.

One of the main reasons for the popularity of March Madness is that everyone and their grandmother participates in a bracket pool these days, hoping to win some money. As Allen Bell tweeted, the NCAA’s own website is pushing the Capital One March Madness Bracket Challenge.

As ridiculous as this suspension is, it might not even make a top 10 list of ridiculous NCAA suspensions. This article has examples of some of the most absurd NCAA violations in recent memory and includes some doozies. For example, UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma was hit with a recruiting violation for calling to congratulate 13-year-old pitcher Mo’Ne Davis after she pitched so well in the Little League World Series in 2014.

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In another case, the University of Oregon reported themselves when their baseball team had a team meal that included games of mini golf and laser tag. They were concerned the NCAA might consider it “impermissible entertainment.” And perhaps the silliest one of all, the one that takes the cake, as it were, was when the South Carolina football team self-reported a violation to the NCAA for “impermissible iced decorations on cookie cakes given to prospects.” Get over yourself, NCAA.