COLUMBUS, Ohio — In putting together the rules for sports betting the Ohio Casino Control Commission has the ability to prohibit or restrict certain types of wagering and that's exactly what Ohio State is asking that they do.
In a letter earlier this year to the commission Ohio State's Vice President of the Office of Government Affairs asked them to consider changes out of concern "for the ongoing safety and well-being of our student body. Both athlete and non-athlete students will be exposed to undesirable behaviors surrounding wagering on collegiate events, and we must work together to ensure the best outcome for both our student population and the state of Ohio. "
They are asking that betting on college sports in Ohio be limited to just two sports, football and basketball, and beyond that, that the only wagers allowed on them be on the game's outcome, no prop bets.
“Again, our concern is for the student athlete. Allowing an in-game bet on a kick or a free throw can lead to very bad outcomes for the athlete regardless of his/her success due to the ability of angered bettors to anonymize threats and ridicule via social media platforms,” the letter read.
"So you pretty much have narrowed any kind of sports betting when it comes to collegiate sports to just two items,” said Donald Emmons, Senior Analyst at OHBets.com who has been following the process. How to handle sports betting on college sports has been an area of concern among states for many years with multiple states taking multiple approaches.
"Some states will limit sports betting to where you can't bet on in state colleges but then they allow for sports betting in general on colleges as long as it's not one within the state. There are about 12 states that have that law in place,” Emmons said.
New Jersey is one of them, which many fans in the Garden State only found out about last month when St. Peter's made their NCAA run in March Madness.
Still, some schools on their own have taken steps outside of what the state allows to ban, for instance, bets placed by students and faculty on their own school.
Emmons said the commission will likely look at those states in considering Ohio State's request.
"They want to just make sure that what they decide and what they initially launch works where they don't have to make any adjustments. So I think there's more caution put in place than to just go wild, wild west with sports betting."
