TLDR The Indiana Gaming Commission voted to delay a decision on banning college player prop bets until September The NCAA says player prop bets have led to death threats against student-athletes Four states — Ohio, Louisiana, Maryland, and Vermont — have already banned college player props Sportsbook representatives argued a ban won’t stop harassment and blamed social media Five of the six current IGC members have less than a year of experience on the board
The Indiana Gaming Commission has voted to table a request from the NCAA to ban college player prop bets. The decision was delayed until the commission’s next meeting on September 24 in Indianapolis.
The NCAA has been pushing states to ban player prop bets on college games. Ohio was the first to comply in February 2024, followed by Louisiana, Maryland, and Vermont.
Clint Hangebrauck, the NCAA’s managing director of enterprise risk management, told the commission that thousands of threats have been made against players. Many of those threats came from people who lost money on player prop bets during the NCAA basketball tournament.
“We’ve seen death threats, things that we have to report to law enforcement and add security to our events,” Hangebrauck said.
The commission heard over an hour of presentations from both the NCAA and licensed sports betting operators. Three Indiana universities — Indiana, Purdue, and Butler — submitted letters supporting a ban.
Scott Dolson, IU’s athletics director, wrote that bets tied to a single college athlete carry risks that team-based bets do not. He also raised concerns that such wagers could lead student-athletes to bet on themselves, which would make them permanently ineligible.
Former IU quarterback Brendan Sorsby was banned by the NCAA earlier this year. His betting history included props on his own teammates and parlays involving Hoosier