The Eighth Circuit heard arguments on an Iowa college athlete sports betting lawsuit on Thursday. Officers have admitted they illegally tracked students’ betting activities, but a judge previously granted immunity.
On Thursday, the Eighth Circuit heard arguments from lawyers representing 26 of the college athletes who faced punishments including fines and permanent bans from the NCAA.
Iowa Athletes Punished For Betting
In total, 35 former college athletes and team support staff from Iowa and Iowa State were charged criminally and/or lost all or part of their NCAA eligibility for violating betting rules.
The violations ranged from placing a handful of bets to hundreds, with some involving the players’ own team. Prosecutors pursued felony charges of identity theft for some athletes who had used their friends’ or family members’ names to open accounts.
Most took plea deals, admitting to misdemeanor underage gambling and paying fines of around $640.
The four athletes facing felony charges, including Denver Broncos defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike, refused to take plea deals. In March, 2024, prosecutors dropped all criminal charges after defense lawyers showed that agents had obtained data through warrantless searches.
Following the dismissal, the athletes filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for the loss of earnings, emotional distress, and reputational damage caused by the case.
Judge Rules Officers Acted Illegally, But Grants Qualified Immunity
In November last year, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger dismissed the lawsuit. Judge Ebinger found that the investigation gathered data without a warrant, violating the Fourth Amendment, but ruled that the officers were entitled to qualified immunity.
Lawyer James Roberts, representing the athletes, told the court on Thursday that this is an unprecedented decision, which should be reversed.
“Defendants searched digital, historical location information to identify individuals, and then determined if those individuals had even committed a crime,” Roberts said.
He argued that using tracking data to identify where betting apps are accessed is equivalent to physically taking someone’s phone and searching through it. This, he said, requires a warrant, which the officers did not have.
Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, representing the state, argued the athletes should not be protected as he told the court that 17 of the athletes were using someone else’s identity, violating the law and the terms of the apps that they were using.
“Whether anyone has a reasonable expectation of privacy in using someone’s sports gambling app illicitly to gamble is itself a threshold question, that I think the answer should be ‘no,’” he said.
Iowa initially launched sports betting with users required to register accounts in person, but this was changed in 2021. This allowed the athletes to easily open accounts online under other names.
The Eighth Circuit will now deliberate on the case, but did not indicate when a ruling will be issued.
