A recent poll revealed that adults aren’t as sold on college sports betting as they are legal sports betting as a whole.
A survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that about 60 percent of respondents believe that legal sports betting is fine for professional sports. However, only about 40 percent said they supported sports wagering for college sports.
Fifty-five percent also went so far as to say they outright opposed legal betting on amateur athletics, according to the poll.
Public critical of college betting
The U.S. legal sports betting boom has taken over 38 states and Washington D.C. Missouri is also on the way to legalization following the approval of a ballot measure last November.
The sweeping momentum has led to partnerships between gambling companies and professional sports teams, famous venues, television programs, celebrities and much more.
However, the topic of college sports betting remains a controversial topic.
Most colleges and universities have kept their distance from sports betting companies. That is parallel to the NCAA’s guidelines, which strictly prohibit student-athletes and team personnel from engaging in legal sports betting of any kind.
NCAA President Charlie Baker has also been an outspoken critic of college player prop betting, a type of sports betting that focuses on the performances of individual players.
These types of bets have led to a drastic increase in online criticism and harassment towards student-athletes and elevated concerns of nefarious interference, as seen with a recent probe involving the University of New Orleans men’s basketball team, of which several members were linked to individuals involved in the Jontay Porter NBA betting scandal.
Thoughts on college props and March Madness
The poll, conducted between February 6-10, also found in anticipation of March Madness that 56 percent of adults believe that participating in NCAA Tournament pools with monetary payouts classify as gambling.
Twenty-two percent said it depended on the amount of money that was risked, and 21 percent said it does not classify as gambling.
College player prop betting is not as widely available as betting on moneylines, point spreads and totals.
Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, and North Dakota are the only states that allow full-fledged college player prop betting.
Twelve states and Washington D.C. allow college player prop betting for student-athletes who do not attend in-state colleges or universities. But 16 do not allow college prop betting in any form.
Numerous states also prohibit betting on in-state schools in all forms, including the major markets. A recent Legal Sports Report article detailed the rules for each state ahead of the imminent period of frenzied March Madness betting.
The general appetite for sports betting also doesn’t appear to have grown, per the poll. Roughly 25 percent of respondents said they “frequently” or “occasionally” bet on sports with friends or through work pools, down from 36 percent from six years ago.
About 25 percent said they bet “frequently” at casinos and 14 percent do the same online -- both mirroring the results from 2019.