NCAA president intends to place a ban on all college prop bets

The president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Charlie Baker, has recently announced his intention to request a ban on all future college prop bets that are available in North American sportsbooks.  

This includes all sportsbooks that are licensed and regulated in the Canadian province of Ontario. 

If this request were to pass, sports bettors would no longer be allowed to place any bets on a college prop bet. 

The reasoning behind the president’s request stems from a series of harassment reports that have recently come to the surface. 

Several college athletes have reported a number of harassment cases that have impinged heavily on both their athletic performances and their mental well-being. 

As a result of the college athletes’ failure to meet the expectations dictated by sports bettors, these harassment cases have recently been on the rise. 

In other words, when sports bettors’ prop bets aren’t met, and thus the college athletes fail to meet them, these same sports’ bettors unleash their anger and frustration on the college athletes in question, and they accomplish this by repeatedly harassing them. 

In order to prevent this from occurring, the president of the NCAA proposed a solution: Ban all college prop bets. 

In addition to the this, the NCAA president seeks to encourage different states to also place a ban on all college prop bets available to sports bettors in their jurisdiction. 

What are college prop bets? 

College prop bets are very common and increasingly popular amongst sport bettors. 

A prop, or proposition, bet refers to a type of side bet that might not have any direct impact on the final outcome of the game in question. 

A prop bet typically places its focus on a specific part or aspect of the game, including an individual player’s or group of individuals’ performance. 

An example of a prop bet includes the placement of a wager on the particular player who the bettor believes will score the first goal or on how many points that player will score throughout the entire duration of the match. 

Another example of a prop bet is a wager on the length of time that a particular player will remain in the game. 

College prop bets are wagers that focus specifically on games played by college athletes. 

With the increased danger of what the NCAA refers to as “targeted harassment”, college prop bets pose a much greater risk for college athletes. 

For this reason, the NCAA seeks to ban this type of bet from all markets available to sports bettors in North America, including many sportsbooks available in the jurisdiction of Ontario. 

Which states will follow suit and ban all college prop bets in their jurisdiction? 

Some states in the United States have never allowed sports bettors to place a wager on a college prop bet. 

These states include the following: 

• Massachusetts 

• Pennsylvania 

• Virginia 

In addition to this, there are several states that, having previously allowed their sports bettors to place this type of bet, have been very receptive to the NCAA’s request and have already banned this type of wager in their jurisdiction. 

The states that fall into this category are listed as follows: 

• Maryland 

• Ohio 

• Vermont 

Whilst there are other states that have ignored the NCAA president’s appeal, states such as Arizona and Colorado have placed several betting limitations on the college prop bets that they offer their players. 

The Canadian province of Ontario, on the other hand, still allows sports bettors to place wagers on college prop bets. 

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has, up to this point, not indicated whether Ontario will follow suit in this ban of college player prop bets. 

The AGCO has, however, released the following statement regarding this pertinent issue, and the rising concern that this news has generated: 

“The AGCO continues to monitor all developments within the sports betting community and remains committed to engagement with all stakeholders.” 

Why does the NCAA put such emphasis on the importance of this ban? 

The country-wide ban that Baker hopes to place on college prop bets stems from the necessity to “protect student-athletes and to protect the integrity of the game.” 

Baker argues that the existence of college player prop bets in itself places both student athletes and college sports at risk. 

This is because, Baker insists, the pressure that is placed upon these college athletes is too great, ensuring that both their mental well-being and their performance in the games is very negatively impacted by the existence of this type of bet. 

Prop bets are based on the performance of a single individual or team. In this way, when that individual or group of individuals fail to reach their player props, then are repeatedly harassed for such a failure, the harm caused to those student-athletes, Baker argues, is unavoidable. 

In addition to this, there is another cause for concern that Baker would like to highlight: The integrity of sports and sports betting. 

In line with this, there is the possibility that, when faced with such harassment and the pressure that ensues, student athletes might intentionally alter the game that they are taking part in in order to ensure that their performance aligns with the sports bets that have already been placed. 

If this were to occur or has already occurred, there would be no way of knowing that such betting irregularities would be taking place. 

In this way, one of the major concerns of the NCAA is that the integrity of sports and sports betting would be chipped at with increasingly more fervent disregard. 

Comments made by Baker with regards to this announcement 

In a statement recently posted on social media, Charlie Baker, the president of the NCAA, remarked on the following: 

“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. The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.” 

In his social media post, Baker went on to state the following: 

“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.” 

Recent scandals in the world of sports betting 

The NBA bans Jontay Porter for life after investigation reveals violation of gambling rules 

Jontay Porter is a professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). 

He had recently come under fire when a number of suspicious betting irregularities involving his name were discovered. 

Following a thorough investigation into this matter, it has recently been confirmed that the NBA has officially banned Jontay Porter for life from the league for "disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games for betting purposes, and betting on NBA games." 

These betting irregularities include prop bets on Porter’s scoring, rebound, and assist totals. The player’s direct violation of the NBA’s very strictly adhered to league gambling rules has placed Porter in very murky waters. 

Much like all other major professional sport leagues, the NBA enforces a very strict policy when it comes to sports betting and its involvement in the lives of their players. 

If you’d like to read more about Porter’s involvement in this massive sports betting scandal, make sure to read our full article here! 

Shawn Lemon indefinitely suspended by CFL for violating gambling rules 

Shawn Lemon is a former Canadian football defensive lineman who has recently retired from the Canadian Football League (CFL). 

The end of his impressive career, one that spanned a grand total of 13 seasons, was announced on April 10th, 2024. 

Only a few weeks after this announcement, an investigation into Lemon’s case revealed that there were multiple instances in which Lemon was in direct violation of the rules of the CFL. 

During the time that he was still acting as an active player in the league, Lemon had allegedly placed several sports betting wagers on games of the CFL, including bets on games that he himself had played in. 

This news comes as a shock to many of his peers, especially in light of the way in which less than a month has passed since Lemon announced his retirement from the Canadian Football League. 

Following this discovery, and the investigation that preceded it, Lemon was immediately handed an indefinite suspension, thus preventing him from ever returning to the CFL. 

The CFL is the latest professional sports league to take action on their players for violating their strict gambling rules. 

They are not, however, alone in this venture. In recent months alone, the NBA, MLB and the NFL have all experienced similar cases of players breaking their league’s gambling rules. 

MLB star Shohei Ohtani's longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara 

Another scandal in the world of sports betting that has recently been the talk of many takes us from the NBL to the world of professional baseball. 

This particular scandal involves popular MLB star Shohei Ohtani and his longtime interpreter and close friend Ippei Mizuhara. 

Major League Baseball star Shohei Ohtani has stated that he was ‘beyond shocked’ to hear that Ippei Mizuhara, his longtime interpreter, had allegedly stolen more than $4.5 million from his bank account to use on illegal sports betting, and thus to fund his gambling addiction. 

Mizuhara is being accused of this massive theft by the lawyers hired to defend the Dodgers’ star player. 

The discovery of this alleged theft was made following an investigation into Matthew Bowyer, a bookmaker living in Orange County, California, who is suspected of carrying out illegal gambling activities. 

During this investigation, the name Shohei Ohtani was discovered in the bookmaker’s books. 

After further investigation into this matter, it was discovered that Ippei Mizuhara, the baseball star’s interpreter and trusted friend, had, allegedly, been the one responsible of stealing millions of dollars from Ohtani’s bank account in order to pay the illegal bookmaker currently being investigated. 

In recent weeks, the alleged theft that took place from the MLB star’s banking account has opened up a significantly larger issue that lies at the core of sports betting. 

More about The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 

“The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes. NCAA schools award nearly $3.5 billion in athletics scholarships every year and provide vast support to help student-athletes graduate at a rate higher than their general student peers.   
 
“More than 500,000 college athletes across all three divisions compete for about 1,100 member schools in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and even Canada. Regardless of where they start, student-athletes strive to end each season at one of the NCAA’s 90 championships in 24 sports.”