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While various states are reviewing their laws and regulations to restrict betting on collegiate sports amid lobbying pressure from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), lawmakers in Connecticut are pushing for an expansion of permitted college bets.
House Bill 5284, which would make several changes to the state’s gaming law, includes revisions that would permit betting on in-state college teams year-round.
Under current law, bets on in-state colleges are only permitted as part of a intercollegiate tournament, and must be based on all outcomes of the tournament, such as betting on the University of Connecticut to win the NCAA tournament.
However, bets on individual UConn games are not permitted at any point, and after back-to-back NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships after this year's March Madness tournament, some legislators, including Connecticut’s House Speaker, are looking to open up that avenue.
“I think the time has come to allow the expansion of it,” Speaker Matt Ritter said last month to CT Insider. “It’s not like there’s no way to bet on UConn.”
“It’s naive to believe that there was not at any given time thousands of people betting on UConn.”
The amended bill would replace the existing blanket ban by only prohibiting proposition wagers on in-state colleges.
One key voice who is not supportive of the change is Governor Ned Lamont.
Lamont was a key advocate for sports-betting legislation when it was approved by the legislature in 2021, but a spokeswoman for the governor told NBC Connecticut that he would not be supportive of opening up betting on college teams.
“Governor Ned Lamont is one of the UConn Huskies' biggest fans but he agrees with Connecticut's Higher Education leaders that residents here should not be able to bet on UConn games,” said Julia Bergman, the governor’s spokeswoman.
The NCAA has been active in recent months lobbying for bans on proposition wagers on all collegiate events, not just those contested in-state, in an effort to limit harassment of players and coaches and strengthen sport integrity.
In recent months, regulators in Ohio, Maryland, Vermont and Louisiana have all taken steps to prohibit proposition bets on collegiate athletes.
At least 15 states have regulations or policies to prohibit prop bets involving college athletes, according to analysis in Vixio GamblingCompliance's U.S. Sports Betting Outlook published last week.
On Tuesday (April 16), the chairman of the New York State Gaming Commission said in a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker that although the state has no formal law or regulation barring the proposition bets, regulators have not permitted such bets since lawful wagering began in the state.
“With the commencement of legal sports wagering in our state, the New York State Gaming Commission made a policy determination to prohibit individual athletic-based proposition betting within any collegiate event, as we shared the same desire to insulate student-athletes from potential harassment regarding their performance,” wrote Brian O’ Dwyer, chairman of the commission.
“We are pleased that many states have followed our lead and have since adopted such a similar restriction,” he continued.
“As regulators of the largest sports-betting market in the United States, we continue to believe the prohibition of college proposition betting on student-athletes is appropriate.”
