Charlie Baker and the NCAA have another win in their crusade against college player prop betting, as Louisiana is banning those wagering markets — without even being directly asked to do so.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board announced Wednesday that it issued a bulletin informing licensed sportsbook operators in the state that college player props will be officially removed from its wagering catalog as of 8 a.m. on Aug. 1.
Technically, the ban is for "any proposition or 'prop' bet on an individual athlete's performance or statistics participating in a college sporting event."
Props based on a full team's stats will still be allowed, and operators can honor any player prop bets placed before Aug. 1.
Nevertheless, that means wagering on things such as whether an LSU football player will go over or under a certain number of receiving yards on any given Saturday will not be offered by the southern state’s licensed sportsbooks next season.
Here's the bulletin announcing the incoming ban on college player prop betting in Louisiana: pic.twitter.com/esXdsIbrhc
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) April 3, 2024
"All reasonable efforts shall be made to comply," the bulletin says. "While the Division understands that identifying players included in this notification may present challenges, Sports Betting Operators shall use their best efforts to comply with the intent of this notification."
The bulletin was signed on April 1 by Louisiana Gaming Control Board chairman Ronnie Johns.
Johns told Covers recently that the board began looking at the issue weeks ago, even before NCAA president Charlie Baker doubled down publicly on the governing body’s anti-player prop push.
“It is the intention of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board to protect the integrity of sports betting as well as the safety and integrity of college athletes,” Johns said Wednesday in a statement. “We feel that this order accomplishes that goal.”
We're doing it ...
Louisiana will join 29 other states in prohibiting college player prop betting. Granted, 12 of those states do not permit any sports betting at all, but the NCAA’s recent efforts to prohibit college player props are gaining traction lately, with Ohio, Maryland, Vermont, and now Louisiana all moving to restrict those markets this year.
However, that still leaves plenty of candidates to enact further prop bans. The states that still permit wagering on college player props in some form (including only at retail sportsbooks or involving teams located outside the state) are Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The NCAA and Baker are concerned about the harassment and threats student-athletes can face from sports bettors and have targeted college player prop bans as one solution.
... but not because you said so
There is a possibility that some or all of the action being placed on college player props will flow to offshore and illegal bookmakers once those markets are banned. A recent report from investment banking firm Citizens JMP Securities estimated almost $200 million in annual gaming revenue could be jeopardized by further restrictions.
In Ohio, though, the state regulator found that college player prop betting only accounted for 1.35% of sportsbook handle in 2023. And, again, Louisiana was working on its college player prop ban without a direct request from the NCAA.
The state had a specific issue of its own arise earlier this year as well, when NFL receiver Kayshon Boutte was accused by Louisiana police of illegal gambling while he was underage and still at LSU.
Johns also told Covers that they had observed the discussion between the NCAA and Ohio, which resulted in the Buckeye State banning college player props as of the start of March.
“We decided on our own initiative to formulate our order,” the chairman said.
