Ohio Governor and NCAA president demand end to college sports prop bets
Governor Mike DeWine and NCAA president Charlie Baker support changes to Ohio wagering rules to better protect student-athletes
Ohio State Governor Mike DeWine and National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) president Charlie Baker have announced their joint support to remove prop bets on college sports in an effort to better protect student-athletes.
The pair have said the growing level of “bad actors” threatening student-athletes has seen them asked for markets to be removed from legal wagers that can be placed in accordance with Ohio’s contractual rules.
Under the proposed changes, bettors in the state will no longer be able to place prop bets on individual player achievements and in-game statistics for collegiate sporting matches.
Bettors would still be able to bet on the overall outcome of matches and final scores, as well as outright winners, over/under total team points bets, and bets against the spread.
None of these changes would affect player prop bets on professional sports games.
The NCAA sent a letter to the Ohio Casino Control Commission on January 31 to request its viewpoint on the issue.
The association said this move for change was as a direct result of discussions with student-athletes and several reports from individual athletes regarding threats they’d received on social media.
Previous recorded threats include those against the University of Dayton Flyers basketball players, which Governor DeWine previously spoke out against when the Ohio sports betting market went live last year.
Baker commented: “The data is clear that student-athletes are getting harassed by bettors. Sports betting without appropriate controls poses real risks to the wellbeing of student-athletes and to the integrity of collegiate competition; risks which are heightened by individual prop bets.
“On behalf of the thousands of student-athletes, administrators, and game officials in Ohio, I thank Governor DeWine for acting quickly to protect student-athletes and game integrity while responsibly regulating the growing sports betting industry in Ohio.”
DeWine said: “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.
“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.”
Several sports coaches and universities across Ohio have also supported changes to collegiate prop betting.
Neil Sullivan, University of Dayton VP and director of athletics, remarked: “Our men’s basketball coach Anthony Grant and I have long advocated for the elimination of proposition bets on individual college-athlete performances.
“We support any action that aims to protect students and their families from inexcusable abuse and threats. We applaud Governor DeWine and president Charlie Baker for engaging in this important conversation.”
The NCAA now monitors the threats and abuse student-athletes and game officials receive online.
The governing body has started a number of initiatives in relation to the rise of sports betting, including offering educational resources both online and in-person. It has also amended its penalty system for student-athletes, recognizing that they shouldn’t lose the opportunity to compete permanently for minor betting infractions.