The state that cleared the way for sports gambling now may ban ‘prop’ bets on college athletes

TRENTON, N.J. — After an unexpected loss in which he threw four interceptions in September, Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne heard from bettors angry that his subpar statistics lost bets for them. Now the state whose U.S. Supreme Court victory led to an explosion of legal sports betting across America is considering banning such bets involving the statistical performance of college athletes. If it passes the bill, New Jersey would join 13 other states that ban college prop bets, according to the American Gaming Association: Ohio, Maryland, Vermont, Louisiana, Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. But Bill Pascrell III, a lobbyist for numerous gambling and sports-betting companies, said there has not been a demonstrable level of serious harm from college prop bets, which he said constitute 2% to 4% of the legal sports betting industry. New Jersey’s lawsuit challenging a ban on legal sports betting in all but four U.S. states led to a 2018 Supreme Court ruling allowing any state in the nation to offer it; 38 currently do, and Missouri will soon become the 39th.