Indiana Regulators Reject NCAA's Bid to Ban Pre-Game College Player Props
The Indiana Gaming Commission voted unanimously on September 24 to deny an NCAA petition asking the state to prohibit pre-game betting on individual college player performances. The decision keeps player props legal at Indiana sportsbooks and marks one of the clearest state-level rejections yet of the NCAA's ongoing push to curb prop betting on college athletes.
What the NCAA asked for
The NCAA filed its petition with Indiana regulators on March 3, following a seven-month review process before the commission's Thursday meeting. The organization argued that pre-game props on individual players make it easier for bettors to target and harass athletes, particularly when a player underperforms a prop line. NCAA representative Mark Hicks told the commission that the bet type "is easy to manipulate and it's hard to monitor," and the organization cited specific instances of threatening messages sent to players tied to prop outcomes, along with past betting-related violations such as former Indiana quarterback Brendan Sorsby's 2022 case.
Why the commission said no
The Sports Betting Alliance — an industry group representing bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel — opposed the petition, arguing the NCAA hadn't established the "good cause" Indiana's rules require to restrict an existing legal bet type, and that no evidence tied prop betting itself to worse on-field performance or player behavior. Alliance president Joe Maloney also warned that banning props in a legal, regulated market would likely push that betting activity toward unregulated offshore sites instead of eliminating it.
Commissioners ultimately agreed that athlete harassment is a real problem, but concluded it's better addressed through existing harassment and stalking laws and league- or school-level player protections than through a state gambling-rule change that would remove a legal product entirely.
Why it matters
Player props are a significant and growing share of sportsbook handle, and Indiana's ruling leaves that revenue stream intact for operators in the state heading into the college football and basketball seasons. The NCAA has pressed similar restrictions in other states with mixed results, and Indiana's unanimous denial — paired with its explicit reasoning that gambling regulation isn't the right tool for an athlete-safety problem — gives operators a notable precedent to point to as the debate continues elsewhere. For bettors, nothing changes in Indiana: pre-game player props remain available exactly as before.