Betting on your favorite college athlete to make a touchdown or hit a homerun isn't good for collegiate sports, according to NCAA President Charlie Baker.
It can also be bad for the players, he said.
In a letter sent to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission and Nebraska Athletics, Baker suggested there are good reasons to restrict those types of wagers, known as player prop bets.
Such bets are illegal in some states but legal in Nebraska, with notable exceptions. Nebraska law prohibits betting on Nebraska teams playing at home. In addition, state law makes it illegal to wager on the performance of any individual athlete participating in a single game or match of a collegiate sporting event in which a collegiate team from this state is participating.
Dennis Lee, the commission's chairman, said Thursday that relatively few player prop bets were placed at Nebraska over the past year.
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Lee said, however, that it's the commission's duty to review requests for proposed regulation changes, and he's open to making changes if they are needed to protect sports.
In the letter, Baker wrote there are several issues with these types of wagers.
The NCAA has seen a significant increase in reports of students being harassed by bettors, he wrote.
Player prop bets increase the risk of insider information being solicited or leveraged to manipulate betting markets.
Student-athletes may be enticed to bet on themselves, he said.
He also wrote that player prop bets increase the risk of "spot fixing," meaning match fixers target student-athletes and other sporting participants to fix a portion of a contest, without having to fix the whole contest.
Baker wrote that state laws and regulations should be amended to include stricter accountability for bettors found to have harassed student-athletes.
In addition, he wrote, states should provide mechanisms for the NCAA and other leagues to have a 'seat at the table' with gaming regulators and operators before certain types of bets are offered.
Keith Mann, spokesperson for Nebraska Athletics, said the department agrees with Baker's concerns regarding prop bets.
"Additionally," Mann said, "we have regularly educated Nebraska student-athletes for years on the risks associated with gambling, including jeopardizing their NCAA eligibility, possible legal issues, and potential financial hardship.â€