Ohio has joined the growing list of states to outright prohibit wagering on individual college player props. After a request from Gov. Mike DeWine and the NCAA earlier this month, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) announced it will no longer allow wagering on individual college athlete performance.
Ohio joins a list of more than 20 states that have outright prohibitions on the market.
While weighing the NCAA’s request, OCCC Executive Director Matthew Schuler asked for operators to both provide feedback and data on how big of a market college player props were for the industry. Eight operators out of the 19 operational in the state voiced opposition to the proposal.
According to the OCCC, in 2023 bettors wagered roughly $104.6 million on player props, resulting in a little over $12 million in revenue for sportsbooks. A grand total of $7.6 billion was wagered across all sports in the state last year.
In his written decision, Schuler said the NCAA is the group best positioned to determine what poses a threat to the integrity and safety of its athletes. He also fought back at the idea that regulated operators need to keep offering these markets in order to compete with offshore operators.
The contention by the sports gaming operators that an outright ban on player-specific prop bets on the performance of college athletes will drive those bettors in that market to wager with illegal operators suffers from a faulty assumption,” Schuler argued.
“The operators are assuming that all those in the market to make these bets will go to illegal operators or bookmakers to place bets if the NCAA’s request is approved. The operators failed to provide any factual basis to support this assumption.”
Operators have until March 1 to remove the markets in order to be in compliance with the new regulations.
