Iowa Lawmakers Reject Rule for Casinos to Keep List of Barred Sports Bettors

The Iowa legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee on Monday temporarily blocked a new rule that would have required casinos in the state to maintain a list of athletes, coaches, and other team officials who are barred from placing sports bets because of their association with collegiate sports.

The Iowa House later approved a resolution to fully nullify the rule by an overwhelming 92-1 vote. The Iowa Senate has yet to take up the resolution.

Rule Would Have Been First of Its Kind in US

According to Rep. Megan Jones (R-Sioux Rapids), lawmakers had questions over the unusual nature of the rule, which doesn’t exist in other states.

“There are 38 states that participate in sports gaming, but Iowa is the first one to request or require this list and so we’re sort of on the forefront here, and I’m not sure these are waters we’re prepared to go through,” Jones said, via Radio Iowa.

While having such a list could be helpful for Iowa casinos, regulators, and officials looking to prevent unauthorized or illegal betting, there are questions over just how accurate any such list would be. 

“What is problematic in this set of rules is that casinos are required to maintain a list of athletes, athletic trainers, coaches, and other affiliated persons, or they can buy a subscription from a company that purports to do the same,” Jones said. “There’s only one entity that’s really doing this, and their list, for instance, does not include the University of Iowa.”

An inaccurate, incomplete, or dated list could lead to false accusations, prevent individuals from betting legally, or cause confusion in investigations.

Rejection Comes as Case Against Iowa Athletes Falls Apart

The proposed rule came in the wake of a 2023 investigation that led to suspensions or legal action against more than three dozen student-athletes at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. 

Recently, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss charges against the last four athletes who were still under scrutiny in that case after it became apparent that investigators may have used unconstitutional methods to obtain evidence against the student-athletes.

Attorney Van Plumb, who is representing several athletes charged in the investigation, cited depositions from against of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to show that law enforcement officers overstepped their bounds in the case. 

According to Plumb, Sanger’s testimony revealed that he began by using software to track bets inside a dorm for freshman and sophomores at the University of Iowa as part of an investigation into underage gambling. However, he realized that his software could only tell that individuals were opening betting apps, not if they were placing wagers. He allegedly asked his superiors for permission to continue the investigation, but was denied. 

However, a motion by Plumb said that Sanger then continued to see whether individuals were opening betting apps inside an athletic facility. 

“This was done without a warrant, tips, complaints, or evidence that illegal activity was occurring,” Plumb wrote in a motion on behalf of former Iowa State defensive lineman Isaiah Lee. 

In fact, Plumb wrote that GeoComply – the company that supplied the product (named Kibana) used in the investigation – even believed that investigators were exceeding the scope of the software’s permitted use in the October 2023 investigations.

“On January 25, 2024, GeoComply sent the letter of their intent to disable access of Kibana to the DCI,” the motion stated. “The letter confirmed that at IRGC’s direction GeoComply provided certain members of the Iowa DCI access to Kibana on the understanding that such tools would be used for limited-scope purposes, and that it had come to their attention that DCI may have exceeded the intended outlined scope of its Kibana access-and-use privileges.”

Match-Fixing Potential Remains a Concern for College Sports

Sanger began his investigation due to concerns over match-fixing, a common worry at the intersection of legalized sports betting and collegiate athletes. 

Betting regulators regularly work with sports betting companies and watchdogs to track suspicious activity, which sometimes generates reports such as the one that found unusual wagering activity in four games played by the Temple Owls men’s basketball team this year. 

Such reports are not considered evidence of wrongdoing, but a first indication that a closer look may be needed. Both Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel chose not to take wagers on Temple’s final regular season game on Sunday in response to the probe. 

(Image: Randall Runtsch / Alamy)