ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips made waves on Tuesday morning when he announced that the conference will be implementing a player status report for each conference game.
“In football, an institution will submit an availability report two days before each league game with updates one day before and on game day,” Phillips said. “All submitted reports will be publicly available on theACC.com. This decision is directly connected to our ongoing commitment to best protect our student-athletes and our multi-faceted approach to addressing the effects of sports wagering.”
ACC Commissioner – Jim Phillips
Phillips’ comments on the matter make it clear that the ACC prioritizes their student-athletes and the potential of large-scale sports gambling on their contests. It’s never been easier to place a bet on a sports game of any kind, and college athletics have been placed in an uncomfortable position in the ever-changing landscape.
“There’s stresses on our student-athletes from individuals that are trying to garner information,” Phillips said. “Sometimes it’s pretty innocent because they just want to know, they’re a big fan, but other times it really does trickle and lead you to the gambling and sports wagering kind of path…Safety has always been taken seriously by this league, and I applaud our schools for further enhancing and formalizing these important measures.”
These guidelines will govern ACC football in the fall, but Phillips also mentioned that they would preside over men’s and women’s basketball in time. Football’s policy will require reports “two days before [games], the day before, and then two hours before kick. For basketball and for baseball, it will be one day before and then two hours before tip-off or first pitch.”
By prioritizing these status reports, the conference is able to weed out those who choose to acquire insider knowledge through underground or illegal methods. The ACC is committed to shutting out those people through a strict protocol. They haven’t created a fine structure if that protocol isn’t met, and Phillips hopes that they won’t have to.
“We haven’t come up with a fine policy yet. We’re still kind of discussing that. But we’d also like to think that people are going to do what they’re asked to do, and we hope that it wouldn’t come down to that.”
