Integrity concerns surrounding NCAA prop bets were discussed during a business meeting Thursday between the NCAA and the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC).
The meeting ended with stagnation on implementing an NCAA prop ban in Indiana, with IGC commissioners unanimously deciding to table an NCAA request. The tabled request allows the IGC to collect data and evaluate the impacts of a potential ban.
During the business meeting, IGC commissioners met with key stakeholders from the NCAA to discuss a potential ban on college prop bets offered by licensed sports betting operators across the Hoosier State.
Why does the NCAA want a prop ban?
The NCAA submitted a request to the IGC for a ban on all college prop betting markets, leading to Thursday’s meeting on the matter.
The college sports organization wants to prohibit bettors from wagering on NCAA prop markets amid a slew of gambling-related scandals impacting the most popular U.S. sports.
The Indianapolis-based sports body wants to protect the integrity of competition while combating gambling-related harassment and harm that student-athletes face from the general public with a prop ban.
NCAA backs regulated, state-sanctioned sports wagering
The NCAA is requesting a prop ban while also recognizing the prevalence of betting.
“The NCAA supports legalized sports betting,” said NCAA Senior Vice President for External Affairs Tim Buckley. “We have very good relationships with sportsbooks, operators, and casinos. We also have very good relationships with regulators such as yourselves.”
Buckley shared that the NCAA has collected data from its 566,000 student-athletes nationwide that indicates widespread harassment toward athletes, particularly men’s basketball players. Gambling issues are also impacting those student-athletes.
Since 2024, NCAA has deemed more than 10 former men’s basketball players permanently ineligible for providing insider information for gambling-related purposes or wagering on themselves or teams.
Indiana colleges back NCAA push for prop ban
The NCAA has garnered support from several Indiana-based universities for an NCAA prop ban in the state. The organization provided the IGC with letters from several schools that are advocating for a ban on props. The three schools that sent letters include:
The letters sent from the schools were addressed to IGC Executive Director Joe Hoage.
“As administrators and coaches entrusted with the education, development, well-being, and success of Purdue University’s student-athletes, we write to express our strong support for prohibiting individual proposition bets on college student-athletes in Indiana sports betting markets,” said Purdue University Executive Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Michael A. Bobinski in the school’s letter to Hoage.
“We recognize that legal sports betting is now an established part of the sports landscape. However, individual proposition bets on college student-athletes create unique risks that are not present — or are significantly reduced — in traditional wagers based on team outcomes.”
Purdue’s push for a ban on prop bets is also supported by the school’s head football coach, Barry Odom, and head men’s basketball coach Matt Painter.
Major sportsbooks speak out against NCAA prop ban
The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) also attended the IGC’s business meeting to advocate for keeping NCAA prop markets online in Indiana. The SBA argued that a prop ban would not reduce harm to student-athletes and also would push bettors toward offshore platforms.
“However, banning prop bets does not eliminate the harm,” said SBA Counsel Scott Ward. “It simply eliminates the visibility by driving bettors to unregulated markets where prop bets are already readily available. That deprives this commission of important data and insights critical to ensuring the integrity of the sports betting market here in the state.”
Next steps for NCAA, IGC
The NCAA and IGC will continue to deliberate on a potential prop ban in Indiana. However, the next discussion will take place several weeks after student-athletes arrive back on college campuses across Indiana and when football season is well underway. The IGC will reconsider the NCAA’s request during a meeting scheduled for Sept. 24.
“We all agree, we want a safe and prosperous ecosystem. I don’t know yet how to do that, how to fairly balance compliance and commerce in this particular instance today,” said Indiana Gaming Commission member B.R. Lane during the meeting.
The NCAA has also sent prop bet ban requests to regulators in Missouri and Ohio. In February, Missouri regulators denied the request while a prop ban is active in Ohio.
In addition to NCAA prop bets, the IGC also discussed disciplinary actions levied against brick-and-mortar casinos and license renewals for suppliers, vendors, and DFS operators.
