University of Texas Players, Adminstrators Had Role in PrizePicks Violations

The Daily Fantasy Sports app PrizePicks was used by five members of the University of Texas for what is being described as impermissible sports gambling.

An open documents request obtained by the Austin-American Statesmen revealed the extent of the alleged violations.

Of the five individuals reported two played on the football team, one was an athletic department employee, a student assistant and one was associated with but not a player for the tennis program.

One of the football players was reinstated and was required to pay the value of his winnings to the charity of his choice. The second received no punishment because he had left the school and quit college football.

The student assistant was fired for making wagers on Longhorns sporting events while the other two non-student athletes were given warnings and additional education on sports betting.

Two non student athletes were given warnings while the student assistant was fired for placing bets on Longhorns games.

PrizePicks claims to be legal despite its model closely resembling that of player prop parlays found on popular betting websites like FanDuel and BetPhoenix.  It was not immediately clear if PrizePicks cooperated in any way with the school.

ProhiBet, which works with the AAC, Big Ten and SEC to monitor and prevent suspicious gambling activity, assisted in the investigation.