COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine expressed his support to remove college prop bets from the list of legal bets that can be placed in Ohio.
According a release from the governor's office, the NCAA sent a letter to the Ohio Casino Control Commission expressing its position on the issue.
DeWine said a number of people have made threats against student-athletes in Ohio and across the country.
“By amending rules to focus bets on the team and away from individual athletes, I believe we can improve the marketplace in Ohio and better protect student-athletes from unnecessary and potentially harmful threats.”
Prop bets are when someone is betting on a player's individual performance rather than the team, such as a football player scoring a touchdown or a basketball player scoring a set number of points.
“The data is clear that student-athletes are getting harassed by bettors. Sports betting without appropriate controls poses real risks to the well-being of student-athletes and to the integrity of collegiate competition – risks which are heightened by individual prop bets,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker.
Bettors would still be permitted to place bets on overall outcomes and final scores of collegiate sports contests, including outright winners, over/unders and bets against the spread.
Sports betting became legal in January 2023. The OCCC reported Ohioans wagered more than $7.6 billion last year.
The proposed rule change would not impact professional sports contests.
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