NCAA president Charlier Baker on Tuesday called for increased federal regulation on college sports betting, including a end to so-called "prob bets" that focus on an athletes' individual performance.
"We believe that when bettors can't gamble on college athletes' individual performances, they're far less likely to attempt to scrutinize, coerce or harass student-athletes," Baker said in an appeared on Capitol Hill.
According to NPR, proposition bets, or prop bets, are a wager in which a bettor gambles on something besides a game's final outcome — such as whether a certain player will score, or how many assists they log. Such bets on college sports are currently allowed in about 20 states, or roughly half of those that have legalized sports gambling.
Such wagers, Baker said, can lead to harassment of athletes. According to recent research from the NCAA, 10 to 15% of its Division I athletes have reported being harassed by bettors — an experience especially common among football and basketball players.
"They get demands for money from unhappy bettors for trivial things that don't impact the result on the field," Baker said. "Many have received death threats from bettors, and they also receive other, in-person threats and accusations directed at them while they're leaving or coming onto the field of play."
Baker said that athletes are harassed online, as well as in-person from fans and friends alike.
"They basically say, 'Look, you're my friend. I'm not looking for you to lose a game, I just need you to miss the first two free throws,'" he said.
Baker also called for federal regulations designed to prevent known harassers from betting again in the future.
Baker spoke at hearing where lawmakers were discussing new legislation that aims to place major regulations on sports gambling, as nearly 40 states now allow some form of sports gambling.
The industry has grown exponentially since 2018. Last year, Americans wagered an estimated $120 billion on sports. Research and surveys have shown that legalization has led to increases in irresponsible gambling, debt and bankruptcy.
