Ohio and, most recently, Maryland have both prohibited sports books from offering individual college player prop bets. The decisions resulted largely from a request by the NCAA.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) announced its decision on February 23, giving operators until the end of the month to reach full compliance with the order. Maryland’s ban started on March 1 and permitted sportsbooks to honor bets made on or before February 29.
The NCAA, according to the OCCC, laid out “six specific concerns” about college player prop bets, revolving around protecting both the players and the integrity of the sports contests. The first two had to do with the negative effects prop bets have had on athletes. The NCAA said that it, along with member schools, have received reports of athletes being harassed by bettors upset about prop bet losses. That harassment, in turn, affects the mental well-being of the athletes.
The next three points made by the NCAA have to do with the integrity of the games. College athletes are “more accessible,” to other students and the public, says the NCAA, and thus there is a greater risk of insider information being relayed (such as a player’s injury status). Players can also be tempted to place bets on themselves or worse, against themselves if match-fixers get their hands on them and offer a substantial sum of money to influence a game for betting purposes.
The sixth concern the NCAA was for college students, in general, who it says are “more prone to be addicted to sports betting.” Player prop-bets lend themselves to “micro-betting” and in-game betting, allowing people to place more wagers in a shorter period of time. One could argue that this concern would apply to the population as a whole, but the implication is that college students have more awareness and of and attraction to prop bets on college athletes.
Ohio estimated that $104,604,320 in wagers accepted by the state’s sportsbooks would not have been allowed by the rule. Based on the average hold percentage and tax rate, that translates to $2,510,594 in taxes that Ohio may have made from college player prop bets.
Sports betting operators have complained that this takes money out of their pockets, but Ohio also pointed out that as big as $104 million+ is, it is only 1.35% of the total amount wagered in state last year.
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