NCAA President Seeks Prop Ban: No Player Props Wanted
Player Harassment a Primary Concern
Betting on sports has become commonplace in the United States, as states continue to legalize sports betting. The majority of wagers are on professional sports, although colleges attract a fair amount of attention. For those who engage in online wagering, point spreads, moneylines, and over and under betting are no longer the only bets offered. There are parlays and prop betting, both of which have a loyal following among bettors. Not everybody is pleased to see player props offered in college sports. Charlie Baker, NCAA president seeks prop ban on player props. Barker took to social media recently to reiterate the NCAA’s desire to wagers linked to individual player performances end.
“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 and professional athletes getting harassed,” Barker wrote. “The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college props bets.”
JMP Securities analyst Jordan Bender said sportsbooks that cater to those who bet online stand to lose as much as $200 million in annual revenue. He also predicted a complete college player prop ban could drive some bettors back to offshore sportsbooks.
“At the end of the day, bettors will find a way to wager on events and players, and we believe the effort to ban individual player betting will likely only push players back offshore, while we estimate over 50% of wagers today are in the United States,” Bender wrote.
Bender wrote that NCAA betting accounts for 15% of all wagers. He estimated sportsbooks made roughly $1.6 billion in revenue from college sports in 2023.
College Player Props Wager Amounts Difficult to Pinpoint
Bender admits that determining actual revenue lost on a player prop ban isn’t an exact science. A number of states already ban or limit NCAA player prop bets. There are fewer player prop bets offered on college sports than professional games. When Ohio announced its ban on college player prop bets, the state said less than 2.5% of wagers were on NCAA player props.
It’s not really a surprise the NCAA president seeks prop ban as it pertains to individual wagers. Player prop bets only need one person involved to alter the outcome. Several players likely need to be involved for shaving points or fixing games. The best part from the player’s perspective is the outcome of the game doesn’t need to be changed. A player could simply look to shoot more than normal and score points.
When NCAA News sent out the social media post the NCAA president seeks prop ban on player props, it quoted Barker saying there is more that can be done as it pertains to betting on college sports. That also holds true for pro sports. Barker’s announcement came several days after the NBA announced its investigation of Jontay Porter. The league is looking into irregular betting on Porter’s prop bet wagers.
“The NCAA is drawing the line on sports betting to protect student-athletes and to protect the integrity of the game – issues across the country these last several days show us there is more work to be done,” Barker said.
Barker didn’t mention traditional bets. The NCAA appears fine with a bettor playing somebody’s free sports picks against the spread. It’s only the player prop bets the organization has spoken out against.
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