Texas players involved in sports gambling violation
03/13/2025
By Chris Marler
The University of Texas athletic department has self-reported a sports gambling violation for five people in the department. Two Longhorn football players were included in that report, along with three other non-athletes.
The news was first reported by David Eckert of the Austin American-Statesman.
Texas self-reported five NCAA violations related to impermissible sports wagering last year. The NCAA said sports wagering violations doubled in 2024 thanks in part to improved monitoring efforts.
Details here: https://t.co/BtIJ2OOYCm
— David Eckert (@davideckert98) March 13, 2025
“The Texas athletics department self-reported five NCAA violations related to impermissible sports wagering between July 11 and Nov. 4 of 2024, according to documents obtained by the American-Statesman,” wrote Eckert. “The documents, acquired via a public records request, redacted the names of the offending parties. Texas’ self-reporting entries listed two football players, a non-student-athlete associated with the women’s tennis program, a student assistant and an uncategorized athletic department employee as the violators.”
The report states that the five people combined for bets totaling $14,885.76. Sports gambling is still illegal in Texas along with daily fantasy sports betting. The report showed that the specific bets were made via the sports betting app PrizePicks.
Therein lies the issue. The PrizePicks betting model involves betting on individual players and player prop bets, which under the guidelines and policies of the NCAA’s rules on gambling is a violation.
While no punishment has been announced or handed down by the NCAA, the Texas football program provided a continuing education on the issue. Of the two players involved, one is no longer part of the program. The other player involved was declared ineligible, reinstated, and has since donated the amount of his winnings to charity.
