New Jersey is the latest state to consider prohibiting college prop bets.
Bill S3080, sponsored by Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Passaic proposes to prohibit operators accepting player-specific proposition bets on college sports amid fears over student-athlete safety and sporting integrity.
“I have heard about many individuals who have been the victim of online harassment because they didn’t perform to the expectation of a bettor who made a side wager,” said Corrado. “This legislation will ban player-specific prop betting in New Jersey, which will help curb that appalling behavior, and make college athletic events safer for all participants.”
Currently in New Jersey college prop betting is allowed however players are not allowed to place prop bets on games involving in-state colleges.
NCAA calls for blanket ban on player props
New Jersey’s legislation reflects the wishes of the NCAA. Last month, NCAA president Charlie Baker issued a statement urging all states to prohibit individual prop bets due to concerns over the integrity and safety of student-athletes.
“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,” Baker said. “The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.
“This week we will be contacting officials across the country in states that still allow these bets and ask them to join Ohio, Vermont, Maryland and many others and remove college prop bets from all betting markets. 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 there is more work to be done.”
States take note
In the weeks before the statement, both Ohio and Maryland had banned college prop bets and since then Louisiana has joined them,
At the beginning of April the Louisiana Gaming Control Board announced that prop bets would not be allowed in the state after Aug. 1.
On the other hand, Montana has chosen to carry on offering the bets as the state lottery believes that concerns over integrity and athlete safety are not an issue in Montana.
“Speaking specifically to our state, with Montana’s low population and only two large universities, we can speak confidently that any issues occurring nationally have not been an issue in Montana,” said Montana Lottery Director Bob Brown.
Montana Lottery is the sole betting operator in the state and Brown said that the operator does not want to further reduce the limited number of markets available for local teams.
