for early access to the latest igaming videos!
and get the latest igaming news first!
The Big Ten Student-Athlete Issues Commission has written directly to NCAA President Charlie Baker, asking him to act against proposition betting in college sports.
In their letter, athletes explained that while sports betting is spreading across the country, prop bets create special risks at the college level. These wagers focus on individual plays or statistics, putting student-athletes at the center of gambling outcomes and exposing them to pressure, suspicion, and harassment.
The commission said removing prop bets would help protect athletes’ mental health, reduce outside influence, and preserve trust in competition.
Integrity and pressure on athletes
The letter warned: “One major concern is the threat prop betting poses to the integrity of college sports. When bets are tied to individual statistics or plays, it creates pressure and suspicion around student-athletes’ performance.”
Athletes argued that even when nothing wrong happens, prop bets can raise doubts about fairness and effort. Because college athletes are young and amateur, they are more vulnerable to outside influence or financial incentives that could affect outcomes.
The group also describe how prop betting affected players on the personal level. “Prop betting exposes student-athletes to increased and aggravated social media pressure and harassment. Many student-athletes receive angry messages, threats, or public criticism from bettors when wagers do not hit.” They added: “Prop bets are a direct avenue to the overwhelming number of death threats that student-athletes receive if they ‘ruin a parlay’ or cause a fan to lose their bet.”
The letter stressed that athletes are human beings, way more than jersey numbers or sports wagers. The group concluded by calling on the NCAA for change. They also thanked Baker for his leadership and continued push for the end of prop bets in college sports.
“We believe protecting student-athletes must be a priority. Limiting or eliminating prop betting on college athletes would be a meaningful step toward reducing harassment, protecting mental well-being, and preserving the integrity of college competition.”
NCAA continue to push for ban
The Big Ten letter arrives just weeks after Baker made his own appeal to regulators. He wrote to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and state gaming commissions, asking them to eliminate or scale back college prop bets to ease the pressure on athletes.
Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti also voiced support, saying his athletes’ concerns should be taken seriously.
The issue has become rather mainstream over the past year and received significant attention in January after federal prosecutors charged 26 people, including current and former players from more than a dozen men’s basketball teams, in a scheme to manipulate games.
Still, not every state has followed the NCAA’s call. Missouri rejected the request late last month, saying its sports betting market, launched only in December, was too new to make such a decision. Ohio, Vermont, Maryland, and Louisiana have since made moves to ban the markets, with Massachusetts also having discussions.
