Cincinnati Bearcats AD Bohn: Legalized betting raises several concerns on college level

University of Cincinnati athletic director Mike Bohn said he is concerned about the potential ramifications of Monday's landmark Supreme Court ruling, which could lead many states to legalize betting on college and professional sports.

The justices ruled 6-3 that a 25-year-old federal law that has effectively prohibited sports betting outside Nevada by forcing states to keep prohibitions on the books is unconstitutional. The ruling could set the stage for other states to expand legalized gambling as a source of government revenue.

"When you recognize that about 30 percent of the legalized gambling in Las Vegas is tied to college sports, you recognize that this decision will require us to devote additional resources for compliance, student-athlete education and efforts to ensure that our programs represent the intercollegiate model that has been a staple for sports fans across the country," Bohn said.

What might this mean, long-term?

"From the college level, it will put additional pressure on our student-athletes, which is an additional challenge," Bohn said. "I don't believe that's healthy, considering all of the other challenges that we currently face."

Get the latest UC sports news. Download the Bearcats app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android users.

If people can legally bet on college sports, how might it affect the various games and events?

"In a world of aggressive social media and all the different vehicles in which people can comment on the competitive nature of teams, I don't believe it is going to add to our desire to present college athletics as we know it today," Bohn said.

A great unknown is, with legalized betting, what effect outside forces might have on the athletes. Point spreads have been published both in newspapers and online for many years, but athletes now could face new pressure from bettors seeking inside information on injuries, lineup changes and more.

"Who's trying to get information from them?" Bohn said. "Who's trying to touch them, influence them? And, all those different people that are going to try to enter their spheres of influence, that maybe they're not aware of. So, again, more resources, education and additional training on understanding all those aspects that are obviously foreign to them."

For many athletic departments, it is not as if additional money is sitting around for new educational and training elements.

"It creates a different focus, and a visibility to a side that we're not really interested in spending additional resources and time in trying to address," Bohn said.