At a time when sports gambling has been legalized, some believe not all forms of gambling should be legal.
Via Alex Schiffer of FrontOfficeSports.com, Ohio wants to ban prop bets.
The concern, as explained by Governor Mike DeWine, comes from the reality that prop bets relate to “highly specific events within games that are completely controlled by one player.”
“The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm,” DeWine said. “The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly.”
Ohio and 16 other states have banned prop bets in college sports. The current push would ban prop bets in all sports.
The debate will prompt some in the media to oppose a prop-bet ban, especially those whose nest is feathered by sportsbook money. The basic argument is that, if prop bets aren’t available through legal means, gamblers will flock to off-shore outlets and/or their local bookies.
Regardless, a ban would remove such betting from everyone’s smart phones, reducing dramatically the sheer volume of the wagers. It also would minimize the venom directed to individuals who fail to hit the overs on one or more their various props. And it would tend to reverse the trend of widespread normalization and acceptance of betting on anything and everything that happens during a given game.
It’s no surprise that the sportsbooks (and those who get paid by them) would be opposed to a prop-bet ban. They make more money from more betting. Because the more we bet, the more we lose, and the more they make.
Still, prop bets pose a much greater threat to the integrity of the game than best based on the final score, since prop bets often hinge on the performance of only one player.
Prop bets also place much greater value on inside information, the misuse of which is the premise of the cautionary tale about pro football (not the NFL) that will be released next Tuesday, August 19.
