Utah’s state constitution already bans gambling, but that doesn’t mean that legislators aren’t concerned about prop betting.
Rep. Joseph Elison filed legislation last week to explicitly classify proposition wagers as illegal gambling. House Bill 243, which was referred to the House Rules Committee and Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee last week, would amend the state constitution’s language on gambling to specifically add that category of sports wager.
Utah rep. looks to cut loopholes
Section 76-9-1401 of the Utah Criminal Code, which relates to gambling as an offense against public order, health and safety, already defines terms such as “amusement device,” “lottery,” “online gambling,” “skill-based game,” “sweepstakes” and “video gaming device.”
Elison noted to SBC Americas that his bill would add “proposition bet” to the definition of gambling in Utah. Per the text of the bill, a prop wager would be defined as a gambling bet on an individual action, statistic, occurrence or non-occurrence during an athletic event.
Speaking to local media outlet ABC4, Elison said that, while major state-licensed sportsbooks in the U.S. adhere to Utah law by not offering sports betting, he heard talk that other companies may be “skirting our laws” and allowing betting without customers even needing to use a VPN. If such sportsbooks continued to offer prop bets after this bill was passed, he said, the Attorney General’s office would be able to send a letter of cease and desist.
Elison clarified to SBC Americas that while he wants to write an explicit ban on prop betting into state law, two verticals that his bill would not touch are fantasy sports leagues or prediction markets.
“This bill does not touch the prediction markets platforms, which fall under the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission and which we are not allowed to regulate on a state level,” Elison said. “It also does not touch the fantasy leagues, which many states throughout the country have deemed as ‘games of skill’.”
Utah residents are currently able to access event contracts that function similarly to player prop bets. Utah Rep. John Curtis was one of several authors of a letter that six lawmakers wrote to CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham in September that urged the CFTC not to allow prediction markets to offer sports products.
Props also on other states’ minds this year
While Elison’s bill would essentially codify the fact that all prop bets are illegal in Utah, other states have taken a narrower focus in legislation this year.
In New Jersey, lawmakers heard discussion in December on a bill that would prohibit in-game prop betting, termed “micro-betting” in the legislation. Rep. Dan Hutchinson introduced Assembly Bill 5971 in November amid various controversies related to match fixing in professional and collegiate sports. A carryover Senate version of that bill is awaiting discussion in the State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee.
Meanwhile, New Jersey is also mulling a ban on college-specific player props this year via the bipartisan Senate Bill 1170, also a carryover from 2025. That comes as the NCAA renews its call for states to prohibit wagers on individual college athletes’ performances, either via legislation or regulation.
The Missouri Gaming Commission last week declined to ban college player props less than two months into the lifespan of its sports betting market, but did suggest it could take such action in the future.
