SPOKANE, Wash. — The world of sports gambling is changing fast — and getting bigger.
"The '25 football season, there was roughly $160 million bet on football games that involved at least one Big Sky team in legal betting," Big Sky Conference deputy commissioner Dan Satter told MTN Sports at the Big Sky Kickoff at the Northern Quest Resort & Casino.
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That was an increase of about $70 million from 2024.
For NCAA student-athletes, the rules around sports gambling are straightforward, even if the broader landscape is not.
"You're not allowed to bet on any college sports and you're not allowed to bet on any sports at any level that are college sports," Satter said.
That means student-athletes cannot bet on the NFL. Even paid fantasy football leagues are off limits.
At the recent Big Sky Kickoff, student-athletes, coaches and administrators heard presentations from Zoe Thiros of IC360, a gambling and compliance monitoring firm that specializes in sports gambling. The firm monitors all sports bets and can notify the Big Sky if it detects an anomaly.
"If there's any immediate concern, they put up the bat signal and we react accordingly," Satter said. "But, thankfully there haven't been issues like that."
Montana State wide receiver Taco Dowler said the IC360 presentation opened his eyes to risks he had not previously considered.
"She brought up a lot of cool points that we don't think of typically, like ... how you're just having a regular conversation in class and they could maybe go and take that information (and make bets)," Dowler said. "So it's it's good for us to learn that stuff and to understand that some people aren't asking you questions because they're genuinely interested. They're asking for the benefit of them."
Big Sky Conference commissioner Tom Wistrcill acknowledged the reality that some student-athletes may still gamble.
"I'm not going to have my head in the sand and say that our student-athletes don't gamble. I wish they didn't, and I hope they don't do it on Big Sky football," Wistrcill said.
"Are they betting on the NFL? I'm sure they are. Are some of them betting on Alabama? Auburn? They probably are. I hope they're smart enough to know that they could have a dramatic impact on themselves, their school and their team if they're betting on their team. And that's why we monitor it closely."
Montana State safety Caden Dowler said he recently learned someone had placed a bet on him recording an interception in a specific game.
"I was like, 'OK, just with your friends or ... ?' And he's like, 'No, like online,'" Caden Dowler said. " I was like, 'Oh, nice.' And he's like, 'Thanks. I made some money off of that.'"
IC360 can also help track bettors who harass student-athletes online. Idaho State quarterback Jordan Cooke said the harassment is something players deal with, even in the Big Sky.
"After our first game last year versus UNLV, there's some Instagram DMs I received. People were pretty upset," Cooke said.
"I didn't know how much money was bet on Big Sky football, which is wild," he added. "We hear about that stuff all the time. And I think it's just important to know, so you don't get in any trouble and just stay away from things like that."
