Big Ten football teams will provide game day player availability reports for conference games this fall, the conference announced Friday. The reports must be shared at least two hours prior to kickoff.
Sports bettors have long hoped college football teams and conferences would offer official injury reports. The NFL and other professional sports leagues offer standardized injury reporting, leaving bettors informed about the status of a team's players.'
Louisiana State University, an SEC team, recently announced that it would offer injury reports multiple times a week. Head coach Brian Kelly said one reason for the reports is to help reduce the desire of sports bettors to reach out to players or coaches for insider information related to injuries.'Former Alabama baseball head coach Brad Bohannon was fired this spring after allegedly sharing inside information with an Ohio bettor.'
The Big Ten hopes its injury reporting helps increase transparency around player availability while also reducing the desire of bettors to seek inside information.'