Indiana Regulator Rejects Ban on College Player Prop Bets

The Hoosier State isn’t ready to say goodbye to college player prop bets quite yet.

The Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) has announced it won't ban the controversial bet type during yesterday’s meeting. All commissioners voted against a ban, arguing that larger changes are likely needed to address problems in Indiana's sports betting market.

Indiana’s decision deals a blow to the NCAA, which has been pushing for states to ban or heavily regulate college player prop bets. While some other markets have made changes, few have actually enacted a ban.

The league, along with a growing number of lawmakers, has linked college player props to two growing issues currently plaguing the industry.

First is the rise in the harassment of athletes by angry bettors. Player prop bets allow bettors to focus on one player and blame them when the wager loses. While physical confrontations are rare, harassment through social media has skyrocketed. As a result, many athletes are finding themselves living in fear of faceless and nameless threats.

The second issue is the rise in betting schemes involving athletes, which almost exclusively involve player prop bets. Dishonest parties have approached athletes, promising big money for small acts, and athletes have believed it to be a simple, victimless crime. Only after the scheme is uncovered do they realize they were misled. 

The IGC is taking these concerns as seriously as the rest of the US, but clearly feels larger changes are needed.

Morals and Money

Despite widespread agreement on the issues presented by college player prop bets, fixing them is incredibly complex.

Player prop bets continue to drive revenue for US online sportsbooks. That also means they drive much of the tax revenue states generate from legal markets. Those funds support school systems, youth sports, and other critical projects. 

After years of legal betting, that tax revenue has become an important part of state budgets. Cracking down on player prop bets would create significant cuts for those states, without a clear fix in place. As a result, states need to balance the importance of those funds with new regulations that could threaten them.

This choice only gets harder as tax revenue continues to rise, making it hard to blame states like Indiana for rejecting the NCAA’s calls to ban college player prop bets.