Amid ongoing discussions across the United States about athlete harassment and the college player prop bet ban proposed in March by the NCAA, the Wyoming Gaming Commission (WGC) made a decision on Thursday to table the issue for further consideration.
The WGC considered two approaches to the issue – the "Ohio Solution" and the "Iowa Solution." In Ohio, there is an outright ban on college props, while in Iowa, the ban only applies to props on in-state college athletes.
WGC commissioners concluded this week that a blanket ban on college player props might not be the optimal solution. The manager of operations at WGC, Michael Steinberg, expressed uncertainty around the connection between prop bets and harassment of athletes:
“We all agree that harassment of student-athletes is bad and something that should not be tolerated. The question then becomes, is banning prop bets going to eliminate the harassment of athletes?” wrote Steinberg in a paper prepared prior to Thursday’s meeting.
“The NCAA was not able to provide any numbers showing whether or not the ban in Ohio reduced athlete harassment,” Steinberg added.
The WGC expressed interest in exploring alternative measures, potentially focusing on rules that specifically address athlete harassment. Still, Wyoming commissioners have opted to postpone the decision before taking any further action.
In March, NCAA president Charlie Baker spearheaded a campaign to issue a nationwide ban on prop bets involving college athletes. Currently, there are bans in 13 states. Three – Maryland, Ohio, and Vermont – implemented the ban following the NCAA’s call to action, whilst Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia had already implemented bans. Meanwhile, Illinois, Iowa, and Rhode Island restrict prop bets solely on in-state college teams, and Indiana prohibits player props entirely.
So far, Montana is the only one of the 38 U.S. states where sports betting is legal that has explicitly rejected the NCAA’s proposal. However, like Wyoming, other states continue to contemplate the idea.
