Missouri‘s gaming regulator has denied the NCAA‘s request to ban certain bets, including college player props and first half unders on college games, but it is not ruling it out completely.
The Missouri Gaming Commission voted 3-0 to deny the request on Thursday at a special meeting. The request was sent out Jan. 15. by NCAA President Charlie Baker and Missouri’s sports betting law requires a decision to be made in no more than seven days.
The commission can ban those bets down the road as staff provides more information. All three on the commission said they are not informed enough on how this could impact either the college players or state tax revenues given that the market only launched on Dec. 1.
“I feel if nothing else today, our discussion really shines a light on the fact that there’s just so much that we don’t know,” Chairwoman Jan Zimmerman said. … “We are, you can’t even call sports wagering in Missouri in its infancy, I mean we’re barely born here.”
Operators object to banning college props
Seven Missouri sportsbooks were represented in three comments from Caesars, Circa and the Sports Betting Alliance. The SBA represents bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics and FanDuel.
All three of the comments hit the point that regulated sports betting helps catch these kind of illicit schemes and that banning those bets in Missouri will push bettors to offshore operators.
Caesars also noted that college player props are less susceptible to manipulation because of the limits on those bets.
The SBA said the NCAA failed to meet the burden of proving those bets are harmful. The organization also noted Missouri voters approved sports betting with those markets included just over a year ago through a referendum. That referendum passed by fewer than 4,000 votes.
Regulators need more info
Commission staff explained that only four of the 39 states with sports betting had agreed to ban college player props: Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio and Vermont. Zimmerman said she wanted to know more about how other states have handled it.
Executive Director Michael Leara noted he spoke to Nevada regulators that said they were not taking action at this time.
The request from the NCAA followed the news of unsealed indictments on dozens of former college basketball players accused of manipulating performances for betting purposes earlier this month.
Ohio was the first state to ban college player props in February 2024 following the request from Baker, noting the markets only accounted for 1.35% of total 2023 handle. The next month, Baker decided to take the push to ban college player props nationally.
