The Kentucky Wildcats are taking on the Louisville Cardinals tonight.

Many are wagering on the outcome of the college basketball game.

What has the advent of legal sports betting in Kentucky meant for these student athletes?

Kentucky Edition's tune Lefler has more.

People are very quick to talk about the positives of sport wagering from a revenue influx, right, Like the money that it brings in and and all of that very well is true, but there's also some negatives to it.

Rachael Newman Baker handles all things compliance with UK athletics.

She knows a lot about how sports betting intersects with college ball from her time at the NCAA.

I think probably just because of the position I've been in where I worked in a department at the NCAA for 13 years that dealt directly with sports wagering issues.

I got to see more of the not so good side of it.

If a coach or athlete rigged the outcome of a game to make money through their own or other people's wagers, that would be the worst side of it.

Some universities outside of Kentucky have been caught up in those kinds of scandals this year.

It really boils down to two things.

One is how do we protect the integrity of the game?

Because that's something that matters across the board.

It's why, you know, our student athletes want to get on the court and our coaches want to coach them and know that there isn't something else playing into the contest, right.

Like when they're lining up against each other.

It's just a matter of truly who's the better team that night.

But then it also goes to protecting student athletes well-being, because there are some people that are have ulterior motives when it comes to the outcomes of these games and trying to influence them.

Since the stakes are so high.

UC's athletics department has been educating athletes and coaches for years on the rules around sports betting.

It's really simple.

If it's a sport the NCAA sponsors, then if you are a student athlete, a coach or a staff member, then you're not allowed to place a bet or accept a bet on any college or professional sport that the NCAA sponsors.

And so the final Four men's basketball, that's off limits for our student athletes, coaches and staff of horse racing is not because that's not a sport that the NCAA sponsors.

This isn't new, but the advent of legal sports betting in the state is to us.

The new part is trying to educate the rest of campus to the same extent that we have been educating our student athletes, coaches and staff for a long time.

Right?

You've got students now who are legally able to wager, who are in class with the student athletes that they may be wagering on.

Even with the best intentions when athletes, friends or family bet on their home team.

It can get sticky.

The NCAA does have a rule that says that parents can't gamble, But what it does say is that our student athletes can't share information for purposes of gambling.

And so that's a pretty fine line, right?

You also got to be aware that you may be putting your son or daughter in a really tough spot.

That's why this kind of betting isn't allowed everywhere.

In some states, it's illegal to bet on games where the college or university is based in that state.

But Kentucky has allowed that like some a handful of other states as well.

Baker says each case is unique and needs to be handled that way.

A point shaving scandal is very different than a student athlete who may have participated in a march Madness bracket pool and posted it on social media.

That's probably not something that's going to keep a student athlete from ever playing again, whereas point shaving scandal might.

Right.

So I guess you have to kind of keep a little bit of perspective of there's very much different varying degrees with this topic.

UK also educates around problem gambling.

Nationally, college students are taking a big interest in sports betting.

We're now consider in college aged men to be one of the more vulnerable groups to gambling problems.

And we're starting to see some of the the backlash that's associated with that.

For example, in some of the news just came out in New York where they were considering different advertising restrictions, not just on college campuses, but anywhere that might be seen from the college campus.

I had a case many years ago when I was at the NCAA involving a golf student athlete who got so far into debt because of his gambling behaviors that he sold his golf clubs and then was unable to compete because that was his only way to try to get even.

Baker says sports betting is just one of many things student athletes have to keep in mind.

Financial literacy is a really big topic in college athletics right now, with some of the different resources and and the access to nil that the student athletes have that they're picking the right person.

And how do they know what's a good deal or what their value is for nil.

Then we've got to educate them about drugs, right?

Because the NCAA and a lot of the international and USA Olympic governing bodies have drug testing protocols.

And so making sure they understand what is and isn't going in their body.

And then for our high profile athletes.

From a media perspective, right.

Making sure they understand that this is different than high school and everything that they do is in a fishbowl.

And how do we not overwhelm them?

How do we make sure that we're getting the right information to them in the right way that so that they're listening and balance and prioritize all of the different things that we're trying to get across to them?

For Kentucky Edition, I'm June Leffler.

To speak to a counselor about your own gambling habits.

You can call one 800 gambler.

Someone is available to answer the phone.

24 seven.