Beginning on August 1, 2024, sportsbooks operating in Louisiana will be forbidden from offering college player proposition wagering on their respective sports betting menus.
Louisiana Regulators Proactive
The NCAA has been calling for a prohibition on college player props, and many state regulatory bodies are sitting up and taking notice. But based on the statement from Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns, it appears his agency got in front of this issue without prompting from the college sports governing body.
“Our staff began to work on this weeks ago, well ahead of the NCAA’s call for action on college proposition bets. It is the intention of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board to protect the integrity of sports betting as well as the safety and integrity of college athletes. We feel that this order accomplishes that goal,” per a statement from Johns.
The bulletin issued by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board reads as follows:
“Any wager based on the following is NOT approved and is NOT permitted: Any proposition or ‘prop’ bet on an individual athlete’s performance or statistics participating in a college sporting event. Only proposition bets based on full team statistical results are permitted.”
“All reasonable efforts shall be made to comply. Sports Betting Operators may honor any outstanding bets. While the Division understands that identifying players included in this notification may present challenges, Sports Betting Operators shall use their best efforts to comply with the intent of this notification.”
The sportsbooks in the Pelican State will be allowed to accept college prop bets until August 1st at 8:00 AM local time but after that, only player props in professional sports will be allowed. College and professional team props will still be allowed.
I know some folks was asking why they can’t bet on player props for college players in their state. Well here you go ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/asOHVbQyYU
— 🐐Lo Sports Picks™️ (@LoSportsPicks) April 8, 2024
Call to Action
NCAA president Charlie Baker has recently pushed for a nationwide ban on college player props, a practice that he believes can subject the athletes to harassment and worse. Player proposition bets are predicated solely on an athlete’s personal performance and have nothing to do with the results of the game in which he or she is playing.
“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 props bets,” Baker said in a statement.
“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.”
Recently Maryland, Ohio and Vermont joined the growing number of states that are following the advice of the NCAA and banning college player proposition betting. New Jersey, Kansas and Wyoming have all expressed a willingness to entertain a ban on college player props as well.
According to studies by Citizens JMP Securities, college player props account for 1.8% of all betting revenue, which means Louisiana sportsbooks stand to lose a combined $6.6 million per year in revenue, while the nationwide loss is expected to be approximately $200 million without college player props on those betting menus throughout the United States.
