An expense that would ban college player props at sportsbooks in New Jersey is acquiring traction in the legislature.

The New Jersey Assembly's tourist, video gaming, and arts committee voted Thursday to release A4905, advancing the legislation and moving it closer to passage in Trenton.

A4905 - and its twin in the New Jersey Senate, S3080 - would prohibit sportsbooks from offering or accepting "any wager on a player-specific proposal bet on any college sport or athletic occasion."

Simply put, there would disappear college gamer props for Garden State punters at in your area controlled sportsbooks if the costs becomes law.

While New Jersey sports wagering guidelines prohibit wagering on in-state college teams, they permit wagering on college player props, at least for now.

"As one of the first states to legislate sports betting, I believe that it is our responsibility to make sure that we set the finest example we potentially can for all others who wish to follow our lead," Assemblyman Sterley Stanley, A4905's sponsor, in a declaration following the committee vote. "Even as a strong supporter of the sports betting market, I think it is incumbent upon us to acknowledge the unbelievable pressures that college athletes face between their academic and athletic duties. My legislation ensures that they do not have those pressures compounded by issue gamblers that have come to pester our college professional athletes when gamblers lose money on college gamer proposal bets."

Be 'reasonable'

If New Jersey were to ban college gamer props, it would continue the current pattern of states kiboshing those betting markets over issues of student-athlete harassment and abuse, amongst other things.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its president, previous Massachusetts guv Charlie Baker, have been lobbying states for prop bans with those issues in mind. The NCAA supports A4905.

"Sports betting is on the increase, and with it, so is the danger for college professional athletes, and there is no question they are getting bugged by gamblers," Austin Meo, the assistant director of government relations for the NCAA, told the Assembly committee on Thursday. "That threatens the stability of the game, and it threatens the wellness of college professional athletes all over."

Meo said that 20 states allow college gamer props in some form. However, he also noted that at the start of 2024, there were 24 states, before Ohio, Maryland, Vermont, and Louisiana moved this year to restrict those betting markets.

"Taking an affordable step that half the states with sports betting have actually required to restrict prop bets is something New Jersey can do to help react to this serious issue," Meo stated.

Highway to 'hell'

There is no guarantee New Jersey will go through with a college player prop restriction, although current history suggests there is a possibility. Nevertheless, A4905 and S3080 will face opposition from licensed sportsbook operators and other interested celebrations in the Garden State, one of the most mature markets for legal sports betting in the U.S.

Lobbyist Bill Pascrell, of Princeton Public Affairs Group, informed the Assembly committee on Thursday that there is "no proof or positive details" from the worried parties that enabling prop bets makes gamers more susceptible than enabling betting on college groups.

Pascrell said banning college gamer props will move that action to prohibited and offshore sportsbooks, even if that action is a reasonably small percentage of all sports wagering.

"The states don't have the long arm of the law to reach the black market," Pascrell stated in opposing the costs. "This ensures that folks that wager this type of prop bet, and it's a small segment of the market, around 2 to 4%, will simply go to the black market. And we don't see any evidence favorable that by using this bet, we're making folks more vulnerable, due to the fact that the bet will just move to the black market."

Pascrell said New Jersey's restriction on in-state college wagering pressed wagering on those schools in basketball tournaments to the black market or sportsbooks in close-by states.

"I understand this expense has the very best of intentions, but I think sometimes the road to hell is paved by the best of intents, and I think we must reassess this concern, since I'm concerned about the explosion of the black market and this will help those in the black market," Pascrell informed the committee.

College gamer prop betting is ended up in Ohio since March 1. Matthew Schuler, executive director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, announced today he authorized the NCAA's request to prohibit such wagering. Any remaining futures must be voided by next Friday.