SEC could require injury reports, improving transparency for bettors

Multiple top coaches are on board with the reported change, implying it will lessen likelihood of leaks to bettors.

Football fans, sports bettors and fantasy football players are used to two entirely different worlds when it comes to injury transparency.

In the NFL, teams are required to release an injury report three times per week, disclosing which players are dealing with what injuries, and how likely they are to play in the upcoming weekend’s game. 

In college football, in the past, you often wouldn’t know which players were playing until they took the field for the game. Even warmups often didn’t reveal enough information. Sometimes, players would play through grueling injuries and spectators were not even aware that they were hurt. 

Last season, the Big Ten implemented a mandatory injury report to improve transparency for fans and college football betting alike. This season, according to a CBS Sports report, the SEC is likely to mandate injury reports.

The Big Ten’s injury report wasn’t nearly as detailed as the NFL’s, as it had just two categories for injured players: out or questionable. However, it was certainly a step in the right direction. The SEC now aims to follow in the Big Ten’s footsteps.

Sarkisian, DeBoer on board

Two SEC coaches at top programs have already expressed that they’re on board with the idea of a mandatory injury report. 

Steve Sarkisian of Texas was asked about the idea after practice last week and said, “I am in favor of it. I just think in college football, there’s so many cat-and-mouse games. Not that there isn’t in the NFL, but they’ve done the studies. They’ve done the research. There’s a reason that they have the injury report, whether that’s for the opponent, whether that’s because now we don’t have to worry about leaks out of our building, and as it pertains to this new idea of online gambling.”

Kalen DeBoer, who replaced Nick Saban at Alabama, echoed one of Sarkisian’s thoughts. “I talk to our guys all the time about, obviously the gambling from their end and how that’s not allowed and you can’t get involved in that,” DeBoer said. “But also any information getting out of our program and how that impacts the outside world, outside of our bubble.” 

Both coaches were quick to talk about the ideas of “leaks” in their building. A mandatory injury report evens the playing field and curtails the issue of information leaking. If that information is available to everyone via an injury report, there’s nothing to leak — and both teams would be on an even playing field.

College athletes prone to abuse from bettors

There has been much talk in recent months about the impact of legalized betting on athletes, particularly college athletes. Earlier in the off-season, NCAA President Charlie Baker urged states to ban betting on college player props due to concerns about integrity and player harassment. 

According to the NCAA, one in three high-profile athletes receive abusive or harassing messages related to betting. In total, about 20% of all messages players receive on social media is in some way related to betting. 

By requiring an injury report, the risk for exploitation of student athletes by bettors looking for inside information should be lessened. The NFL mandated its injury report after the 1946 NFL Championship game caused chaos in the gambling market due to rumors about player availability. It sounds like college football might finally be following in its footsteps.