Indiana Delays Decision on Potential Ban for College Player Props Until September

A proposal to ban player props in Indiana has been put on hold, as lawmakers said they need more time to analyze this niche. It is a hot topic in the US betting industry, alongside the legality of college betting altogether. There have been claims that college sports betting, especially props, can be manipulated or rigged. In the past 5 years, the US has had 30+ major investigations into NCAA insider trading or betting, with 100+ individuals investigated or disciplined, and over 20+ Division I schools linked to these.

The NCAA argues that, furthermore, it impacts the health of the athletes, adding pressures that negatively impact the sport. Though, the sports organizations lobbying the ban on player props argue that fixing is something that can also happen at the top level – just consider the recent NBA scandals involving Chauncey Billups or the MLB microbet fixing scandal. They argue that these can be fixed with tighter KYC protocols and cross-sharing intelligence schemes.

Whatever the case, college sports player props are still on the table in Indiana. Operators in the state can still provide player prop bets until September, when the Gaming Commission will decide on their long-term future.

Indiana Gaming Commission Meets to Discuss Player Props

The Indiana Gaming Commission livestreamed a meeting on June 25 to discuss licensing renewals, disciplinary actions against casinos, and the pressing NCAA request to prohibit proposition bets on players. The decision on the latter took the main headlines, as the commissioners decided that they didn’t have enough data to come to an agreement on the matter, and that they would delay the decision making to September.

In Indiana, sports fans can still bet on players in the Hoosiers, the Fighting Irish and Purdue Boilermakers, for the time being. Commissioner Troy Helman stated

“We’ll think about it and do more research, and hopefully we can get this resolved in September”

NCAA Lobbying Against Player Props

At the beginning of the year, the NCAA President, Charlie Baker brought up the subject of player props in a statement directed at the state gambling commissions. He called on state authorities to change state laws to remove player prop bets completely, as well as other high-risk props such as first half under spreads, and microbets. The NCAA enforcement staff, already had ongoing investigations into 40 students across 20 schools in 2025, and most of the cases involved students betting on these controversial markets. As they wouldn’t be able to sign up at sportsbooks and bet directly on themselves, they could share information with known bettors and then manipulate those minute aspects of the game – such as a first half under spread or a total.

The letter was penned a day after Charlie Baker sent a similar warning to the CFTC, in regard to prediction markets.

“Just as we need Congress to stabilize eligibility, we need federal regulators to stabilize these markets… The answer cannot be the status quo. We need one set of fair, transparent standards.” 

This is arguably even more difficult, as the prediction markets are currently undergoing legal battles between the Federal Government and the state authorities. Many states have taken legal actions against prediction markets, with Minnesota signing a law to ban them altogether. But it is also made more difficult because at a lot of these peer to peer betting exchange-style platforms, users can make market recommendations or bets.

With market maker features, a user can propose a market and then if it is approved, it can be listed for other peers to trade with or against. Without safeguards, it could easily open channels for insider fixing, an issue that prediction markets are highly familiar with. There have been claims of prediction market insider trading on major political events, stocks and indices, and many real world events outside sports. So naturally, this would be a point of concern for the commentators trying to defend the integrity of sports.

NCAA Insider Fixing Scandals

At the beginning of the year, the Department of Justice held a press conference to talk about one of the recent, major NCAA sport fixing scandals. 26 people were charged with alleged bribery and a point-shaving scheme involving NCAA Division I men’s basketball games, as well as Chinese Basketball Association Games. They unraveled a conspiracy that involved college athletes, NCAA alumni, and professional bettors. The fixers, located across the US, worked together to recruit and bribe players, mainly to fix first half spread under bets. The games in question involved CBA games, as well as March Madness games during the 2023-24 and the 2024-25 seasons.

The NCAA has lobbied to ban player props since 2024, and while many states with legal sports betting have banned these bets, there are still major regions that continue to allow them. The biggest being New Jersey. On the counter argument, the professional sports leagues are not completely immune to sport fixing and insider trading.

Similarities with Microbetting

For recently there was a scandal in the MLB involving pitchers manipulating micro bets. Investigators found suspicious betting activity, and volume, on microbets relating to the performance of the Cleveland Guardians pitcher, Luis Ortiz. Another player, Emmanuel Clase, was also tied to the investigation, but this was more of an isolated case of sport fixing – and it didn’t uncover a big network of underground game fixing. However, the response was quick. It didn’t come from the state authorities either.

The MLB association demanded that its sportsbook partners implement limits on microbetting, with immediate effect. And thereafter, the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics, and other betting partners, introduced $200 betting limits on microbets, and completely banned them from being included in parlay bets.

The State of NCAA Player Props in the States

The MLB’s involvement was a rare case of quick action being taken by the sports organization itself, without waiting for the state authorities to make proposals, go through their legislative processes, and then enforce the bans. All of that is time consuming, and it can become pretty fragmented. Just like the situation on college sports bets. Not player bets, but college sports bets in general.

Looking across the US, the state laws on college sports betting are extremely diverse, with states either allowing these in their entirety, banning them completely, or introducing special conditions for operators.

• No in-state college team bets: 8 states (New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Illinois, Arizona, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island)
• No betting on college player props: 4 states (Ohio, Maryland, Louisiana, Vermont)
• No betting on college sports at all: 1 state, Oregon

Though New Jersey and Illinois allow betting on in-state college teams if they are in a national tournament, such as an in-state team reaches March Madness.

College Bets Increasingly Bringing in Money

For state authorities with legal sports betting, one big argument against striking off college player props, and all types of college bets, is that they are simply so popular. Just this year, March Madness exceeded $3.3 billion in betting volume, with historical records indicating that the betting handle on this event will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. These wagers make massive revenue for the state, and they are in high demand among college sports fans.

Banning them outright runs the risk of turning these sports fans and bettors to alternative channels. For instance, using DFS player projections or looking for opportunities among the sports-oriented prediction markets, like Kalshi. In the worse case scenario, these bettors make take their March Madness bets to the black market, picking out offshore sites that still offer player props without any restrictions, imposed limits, or exclusions from parlays.

What Happens Next in Indiana

The lawmakers in Indiana have to walk a fine line here, but what is perhaps working in their favor is the fact that already Ohio, Maryland, Louisiana and Vermont have banned player props, but allow main NCAA game lines. So you can bet moneylines, totals, and spreads on college sports, but without the partial game bets or props that are not related to the final outcome. Including, of course, the controversial first half under spreads.

The trend in the past few years is for state authorities to not rule out college bets entirely, as that would eat a massive hole in their revenue through tax duties, but instead to focus more on individual markets and approve these separately. Sportsbooks, trading partners and betting associations argue against any bans, claiming that it hurts the industry and could lose bettors to the black market. Indiana will now have to do careful research on the subject matter, and in September there will be the next hearing to decide what to do – but there is also a possibility they will extend the delay to keep investigating NCAA player props bets.