A “proposition” bet, also known as a prop bet, is a sports gambling wager that can be placed on practically anything not tied to the final score or outcome of a game. Examples of prop bets include who will win the coin toss to start a game, how long it will take to sing the national anthem, or how many three point shots a particular player will make in a game. Prop bets, while often quirky and fun, can also result in a number of unforeseen concerns, especially as this applies to individual player safety when they fail to perform well enough for gamblers to win their bets. When you juxtapose those general concerns on to student athletes (the vast majority who could use a buck), and you can see how easily student athletes can be potentially compromised, leading to even bigger concerns around the overall integrity of sports and fair competition. And even if all student athletes were well-paid, their still-developing young brains are at-risk for making quick, irrational decisions — like paying more attention to a prop bet instead of preparing for the upcoming game. It is for these reasons that prop bets may end up being the “bridge too far” applied to sports gambling, and possibly the only variable left that could dictate dramatic, scaled-back betting changes in the future.
Prop bets create unavoidable integrity hurdles to overcome
If there weren’t already legitimate concerns about general sports gambling (and there are), prop bets may present even bigger potential problems, and be even more difficult to monitor. There have already been reports of players being hassled for not covering a spread or scoring enough individual points, and now there are increasingly more states looking to ban prop bets altogether. And remember, we just started allowing legalized sports betting not very long ago, making you wonder how sports and gambling are going to ever go well together?
While some states may ban prop bets, many others have not, setting up very legitimate concerns — especially as this applies to individual student athletes and their awareness of expectations placed upon them relating to winning sport bets. It is important to note that student athletes do not take into consideration how often they are the cornerstone of a sports bet, nor do they desire to have pressure placed on them to hit specific markers each game in order for fans to cash in on their efforts. And once a student athlete becomes aware of a prop bet on him or her (i.e. a specific player must make x number of three point shots tonight to win), how can that individual block that from his or her mind and instead play for team, not individual, success?
Final thoughts
Similar to concerns raised as NIL emerged, there are many issues relating to gambling that were either ignored, or completely overlooked. It’s doubtful that the decision-makers who allowed sports gambling ever thought about the new pressures placed on student athletes when they don’t hit specific point markers, but here we are in 2024 with student athletes now regularly complaining about threats from fans when they don’t measure up. Obviously corrective measures are desperately needed, but will changes be implemented before a student athlete is assaulted and seriously injured?
drstankovich.com
