North Carolina legislator intends to introduce legislation to ban college player prop bets, according to a staff member.

North Carolina State Representative Marcia Morey, D-Durham, a former Olympic swimmer, will submit a bill by the bill filing deadline on Thursday to ban these bets, Hannah Smith, Administrative Assistant, told Gambling.com on Monday.

The North Carolina Legislature began meeting in Raleigh on April 24 with the session set to end on July 31.

Recently, NCAA President Charlie Baker, a former Massachusetts governor, called upon states to ban college player prop bets, which is short for proposition bets. Baker said these bets, based on an athlete’s individual performance such as the over/under on the number of rebounds the player might record, could undermine the integrity of games and lead to harassment of players.

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Former North Carolina Tar Heel star Armando Bacot is among athletes who have expressed concern about harassment. Bacot said he heard from fans angry that he didn’t get enough rebounds in an NCAA tournament game against Michigan State – a game the Tar Heels won.

College Prop Bets Allowed in Some States

Some states already ban these bets, while others including Louisiana, intend to impose a ban this summer before the college and pro football seasons begin.

In other states, the proposed ban has met with resistance.

During a recent interview on The Edge, Arkansas casino executive Carlton Saffa told Gambling.com a ban would drive bettors to unregulated offshore sportsbooks or illegal bookies. He said a better solution is to keep those bets legal in regulated markets where irregularities can be spotted.

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“Sunshine is the best disinfectant,” Saffa, the Chief Marketing Officer for the Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, said.

College player prop bets remain legal in Arkansas.

In North Carolina, where statewide mobile sports betting became legal in March, State Representative Jason Saine, R-Lincoln, said in a story on the WNCN-TV website that a college player prop ban is ‘a solution in search of a problem’. If athletes are being harassed, he said, campus police should crack down on those making the threats and make an example of them. A ban won’t stop the problem, Saine said.

“If we ended (player prop bets) tomorrow, this kind of behavior would still continue with fanatical people,” Saine said. “Follow rules of society, you don’t threaten anybody, or you shouldn’t be. And, that’s kind of my take on it. I don’t think we need a whole new set of rules to pursue something like that.”

Morey, the lawmaker proposing the ban, said people are ‘forgetting about the individuals who are actually playing the game and having the pressure on them’.

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“Let’s give them a break,” she said.

Today, DraftKings Incorporated (DraftKings) (Nasdaq: DKNG) announced plans to launch its top-rated online sportsbook in North Carolina on March 11, 2024. This announcement is the culmination of DraftKings’ continued work with stakeholders and regulators across North Carolina to offer fans a responsible form of sports betting. Earlier this year, DraftKings and NASCAR agreed to terms on a written designation agreement, paving the way for the digital sports entertainment and gaming company to operate in the state. Once live in North Carolina, the DraftKings Sportsbook will be available in 27 United States states, in addition to Ontario, Canada.

North Carolina is known for its strong sports culture, housing the majority of the NASCAR industry, professional teams in the NFL, NBA and NHL as well as several universities competing at the Division-I level. Starting from March 11, DraftKings will provide eligible fans in the state several new and responsible ways to get in on the action. DraftKings’ online sportsbook provides a wide variety of betting markets and key offerings such as same-game parlays, in-game betting, special odds boosts and more on a safe, regulated platform with various customer protections in place such as deposit and time limits, access to responsible gaming resource materials, cool off and self-exclusion features along with DraftKings’ all new My Stat Sheet, an innovative responsible gaming feature that shows customers exactly how much time they’ve spent on DraftKings and the total amount of deposits they’ve placed on the platform.

“With the NCAA Tournament right around the corner and the NASCAR season in full throttle, we are thrilled to be launching our top-rated sportsbook app in North Carolina,” the President for DraftKings North America, Matt Kalish, said. “‘The Tar Heel State’ is home to a passionate fanbase and some of the most iconic college basketball programs of all time, making this an exciting time to introduce legalized online sports betting. We’re proud to be working alongside NASCAR as our market access partner and look forward to enhancing the fan experience across North Carolina with a fun, safe and seamless sports betting product.”

To celebrate the launch of legalized mobile sports betting going live in North Carolina, DraftKings, in collaboration with NASCAR, is teaming up with Carolina Panthers legend Greg Olsen for a ceremonial first bet on March 11, 2024. The event will take place at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte and feature remarks from Olsen as well as DraftKings Chief Commercial Officer Jeremy Elbaum and North Carolina State Representative Zack Hawkins.

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In addition to hosting the ceremonial first bet in North Carolina on March 11, DraftKings is also recognizing Problem Gambling Awareness Month (PGAM) in March, led by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) to increase public awareness of problem gaming and the availability of prevention, treatment and recovery services. DraftKings works closely with the NCPG to highlight the company’s responsible gaming initiatives and resources such as cool offs, limitations, key partnerships and mental health services.

Both active members of the American Gaming Association (AGA), DraftKings and NASCAR are committed to promoting the AGA’s Have A Game Plan: Bet Responsibly public service campaign, which educates customers on responsible gaming best practices such as establishing and adhering to a budget and only engaging with legal, regulated operators. DraftKings is committed to creating inclusive and responsible pathways for people to build, create, imagine and innovate through the DraftKings SERVES program.

Eligible customers in North Carolina can access the latest betting markets and more by downloading the DraftKings Sportsbook app available via iOS and Android. DraftKings is committed to providing customers with resources to help bet responsibly. Customers can review DraftKings’ responsible gaming tools here. For additional problem gaming support or services, North Carolina customers can call 1-800-GAMBLER.

GeoComply, a global leader in advanced anti-fraud and geolocation compliance technologies, has announced a 22.3 percent increase in geolocation checks throughout Super Bowl weekend, surpassing last year’s figures. This sustained growth underscores an important shift in the United States towards a state-regulated, taxed and secure betting environment, enabling more Americans to place legal bets on the year’s most anticipated football game. GeoComply analyzed its data across 28 US states*, Washington DC and Puerto Rico with legal, online sports betting during Super Bowl LVIII weekend.

“The continued transition to the legal market set the stage for a historic first Super Bowl in Las Vegas and the record-breaking results we saw did not disappoint. We are proud to help foster the growth of a regulated industry that puts accountability, security and player protection at the forefront,” the founder and Chief Executive Officer for GeoComply, Anna Sainsbury, said. “Compliance drives our mission and with that commitment we strive to help our customers reliably and responsibly expand the player funnel and boost their businesses. Every year the legal market grows is good news for consumers and states and bad news for illegal offshore sportsbooks that become marginalized.”

Additional Key Insights from Super Bowl LVIII Include:

• Throughout Super Bowl weekend, GeoComply saw a total of 8.5 million active accounts across states where online sports betting is legal. This represents a 15 percent increase over last year’s Super Bowl
• During the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, GeoComply saw more than 1.77 million new users sign up for legal online betting accounts
• Since the start of the 2023/2024 NFL season through the Super Bowl, GeoComply customers have added more than 13.7 million new accounts, a 28 percent increase from last season
• Minutes before kick-off, GeoComply saw a massive spike in traffic totaling 14.75 thousand transactions per second (TPS) immediately. This was the highest TPS ever recorded on GeoComply’s systems, nearly doubling the last Super Bowl’s peak
• Tale of two Kansas cities: Chiefs fans on both sides of the Kansas City border want to support their team. GeoComply’s real-time pin drop map from Super Bowl Sunday shows legal activity in Kansas, while just across the street in Missouri they are blocked from betting

(GeoComply will be releasing additional Super Bowl data insights later this week.)

GeoComply’s technology is critical for the online sports betting industry. Its platform uses more than 800 data points to accurately confirm that players are located in a state where sports betting is legal before placing a bet. Super Bowl LVIII represents many new growth milestones for the legal online sports betting industry but it also represents a significant technical achievement that ensures that players have a fantastic experience and regulators have the proper assurances that all bets placed fall within the appropriate state borders.

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“GeoComply’s technology brings the perfect blend of geolocation precision mixed with a rock-solid player experience,” Sainsbury said. “These two aspects of our platform are critical to the industry’s success as a whole and we designed the solution to meet these massive spikes in demand without compromising on either of them. Innovation is at the core of our brand and we will continue to improve on our technology with the expectation that by the next Super Bowl, more states and more players will join the masses.”

*GeoComply’s Super Bowl data is based on GeoComply’s aggregated geolocation transactions for its United States sportsbook customers in regulated states including Massachusetts, Kentucky, Maine, Vermont and Puerto Rico, all new regulated markets since last year’s Super Bowl. The data does not include Florida. Unless otherwise indicated, data for this release was collected starting at 12am ET on February 10 and continuing through the completion of the Super Bowl on February 11.

GeoComply has a unique view of the United States online sports betting market as the trusted geolocation supplier for many of the regulated online sports betting operators in the United States. GeoComply’s data does not purport to be definitive or represent the entire United States market but is intended to provide general insights into relevant market dynamics.

This press release has not been reviewed, authorized, or endorsed by the National Football League (NFL).