Online sports betting launched less than two months ago, but serious proposed changes to the wagering landscape could already be on the horizon.
Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham) told WRAL that she plans on introducing a House bill that would ban college player prop bets from being offered by sportsbook operators in the Tar Heel State.
This issue was one of many on a list of legislative efforts lawmakers plan to attack in a 2024 session that began this week.
“We’re forgetting about the individuals who are actually playing the game and having the pressure on them,” Morey told CBS 17 last month when discussing the prop-bet issue. “Let’s give them a break. Then to know in the back of your mind,
‘Oh, well, people are going to watch every stroke, every turn, betting on every move I make,’ it takes away from the thrill of the sport, the enjoyment.”
Battle of the ban
The North Carolina General Assembly approved online and retail sports betting less than a year ago, and player prop betting was part of the bill that passed and became law.
However, that was before NCAA president Charlie Baker started a campaign asking legal sports betting states to stop allowing bets on individual student-athletes.
“Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity of competition and leading to student-athletes getting harassed,” Baker said in a social media statement last month. “The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.”
Ohio, Maryland, and Vermont have already responded to Baker’s request by banning college player props. Louisiana will disallow the wagers on Aug. 1. Other states are looking into legislation as well.
A former North Carolina basketball player might’ve helped spur the conversation in the Tar Heel State. Armando Bacot said in March that he dealt with bettors getting on to him for not reaching certain stats in games.
“I guess I didn’t hit the over,” Bacot said. “I got over probably 100 DMs from people just telling me like, ‘You suck, you didn’t hit the over!’"
Opposition incoming
Online sports betting has been wildly popular in North Carolina, which generated a $659 million handle in the first month and filled the state’s coffers with nearly $12 million of tax revenue.
Morey, a former Olympic swimmer who also competed in college, opposed sports betting in the legislature last year.
Her attempts at changing a popular and profitable revenue generator in the sports catalog are going to be met with opposition from other lawmakers.
Sen. Jim Perry (R-Lenoir) responded to Baker’s stance with a social media post on X that said “It would be more productive introducing legislation banning the NCAA.”
Rep. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln) stated before Morey’s plan to challenge college player props that the debate will not be considered in this short legislative session.
“I really think this is a solution in search of a problem,” Saine told CBS 17. “I hope the campus police are following up on if there were threats, I hope they follow up on that. And these people should be pursued. I think enough people, if an example is made of them, that this is not going to be tolerated, this is not how we function as a civilized society, then that problem takes care of itself.”
