College player props could soon be verboten in the Buckeye State.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission announced on Friday that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had asked the regulator on Jan. 31 to ban “player-specific proposition bets on intercollegiate athletics competitions.”
In short: the NCAA doesn't want Ohio sportsbooks offering college player props. However, it’s not just the NCAA asking. It’s also Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.
“One year into sports gambling in Ohio, we have seen a marketplace develop where a number of bad actors have engaged in unacceptable behavior by making threats against student-athletes in Ohio and across the country,” DeWine said recently. “By amending rules to focus bets on the team and away from individual athletes, I believe we can improve the marketplace in Ohio and better protect student-athletes from unnecessary and potentially harmful threats.”
Well, per a press release, Ohio sportsbook operators have until Feb. 12 to explain to the regulator why they should be allowed to take bets on college player props.
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) February 2, 2024
The NCAA has requested those props be taken off the sports-wagering menu in the Buckeye State. pic.twitter.com/gYqgl98hfJ
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) noted the NCAA’s request is in line with the state’s legal sports betting law, which allows a “sports governing body” to ask to prohibit or restrict wagering on events or markets in the state’s approved betting catalog.
Ohio sportsbook operators now have a week to make the case for continuing to offer college player props, with their comments accepted until Feb. 12.
“I will review the request, and any comments timely submitted by sports gaming proprietors, and determine whether the NCAA has shown good cause to grant the requested prohibition,” OCCC executive director Matthew Schuler wrote in a Feb. 2 letter to sports gaming licensees. “Good cause will be measured by whether the NCAA’s request, if adopted, will ensure the integrity of sports gaming or will be in the best interests of the public.”
An anti-prop proposition
The request by the NCAA comes in the wake of several college sports wagering-related incidents, such as the firing of Alabama’s baseball coach after he provided inside information to a bettor. The NCAA has also taken a more active approach toward sports betting by commissioning surveys to better understand the subject and by beginning to lobby state regulators for changes.
College athletes can be more vulnerable to harassment by bettors, which is something the Ohio Casino Control Commission was already trying to address.
Even so, NCAA president Charlie Baker's letter to the OCCC requesting a ban on college player props notes that those betting markets are already prohibited in many states, but not in Ohio, which has proven to be a tougher regulator of the legal wagering industry.
“The NCAA national office contacted several Ohio Division I schools about challenges related to sports betting and their athletics departments,” Baker wrote. "Those schools cited issues surrounding player prop bets, including multiple instances of harassment and other well-being concerns.”
If the OCCC approves the NCAA's request (its next scheduled meeting is Feb. 21), Schuler said the regulator would update the criteria for the state's sports wagering catalog to ban "[a]ny proposition or ‘prop’ bet on an individual athlete's performance or statistics participating in a sporting event governed by the NCAA."
The catalog would also prohibit “[a]ny full team proposition bet on a sporting event governed by the NCAA that, while not based solely on an individual, would on average depend 50% or more on the statistical performance of one or two athletes on the team to determine the outcome.
“For example,” Schuler’s letter adds, “whether Team A will gain over 200 passing yards in a football game would predominantly rely on the quarterback's yardage, likely over 50% dependence.”
