WASHINGTON – College athletes are facing intense scrutiny and harassment these days, and critics blame the rise of sports gambling — especially the growing phenomenon of “proposition bets” on their individual performances.
Now, new findings that show the widespread availability of these wagers may revive the conversation on Capitol Hill about what to do about it.
Reporting by the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism finds that, during the men’s NCAA March Madness tournament this year, major sportsbooks set more than 7,000 prop betting lines on college athletes — an average of more than 100 per game. .
“Prop bets have corrupted the game to the detriment of athletes, fans, and victims of gambling addiction,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Capital News Service.
“Troubling new findings revealing the pressure, and even potential harassment, student athletes at UConn and across the country are under due to these harmful wagers make it all the more clear,” he said in a statement to CNS. “It’s time for Congress to enact the SAFE Bet Act.”
Blumenthal is the Senate sponsor of the act, which would place federal restrictions on the sports gambling landscape, a field typically regulated by state legislatures and gaming commissions.
Blumenthal’s House co-sponsor, Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., introduced an amendment to the bill that would specifically ban these prop bets on any collegiate or amateur athletes.
“Along with creating minimum federal safety standards in the key categories of marketing, affordability, and artificial intelligence, my bill would put a ban on all amateur and collegiate prop bets,” Tonko told CNS. “The goal here is to prevent harm before it occurs so that the public is safe to enjoy gambling on sports, and athletes can play without the fear of being bombarded with harassment and threats.”
The act hasn’t had universal support in Congress, though. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., publicly denounced the proposal when it was initially introduced in 2024. She believes the issue is more appropriately regulated on a state-by-state basis. Over half of U.S. states currently have a ban or restrictions on prop bets.
“While the SAFE Bet Act is perhaps well-intentioned, pre-empting state gaming regulators by outlawing forms of advertising and restricting the types and methods by which customers can place bets is a misguided approach,” she wrote in a statement at the time.
Since the 2017 Supreme Court case Murphy v. NCAA, states have been given the power to determine whether or not to legalize sports gambling. It has now been legalized in 39 of 50 states across the country and Washington D.C.. But the court’s decision preserved Congress’ power to directly regulate the industry through federal laws.
Titus, whose congressional district covers downtown Las Vegas, didn’t respond to multiple requests for further comment from CNS on her stance on the act now.
Proponents of the ban, like Tonko and Blumenthal, cite harassment and threats aimed at the athletes as a major reason reform is necessary.
When a player doesn’t help a bettor cash in, they’re sometimes subjected to hateful messages online and sometimes in person. After a bad game in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, one Instagram commenter said University of Connecticut forward Alex Karaban needed to be investigated by the FBI, while another questioned how he could be so unproductive that he didn’t even turn the ball over two times.
“He genuinely didn’t do anything,” the comment said.
During March Madness this year, the Povich Center identified nearly 500 available prop bets on players from the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team alone.
Professional athletes with larger followings draw similar online negativity from gamblers after poor performances, but are far more insulated with teams of support staff and security. For a college athlete, particularly at small schools like Siena University in Tonko’s district, they could be sitting in a math class with a bettor who lost money on their game.
“Players at all levels are facing more online attacks and anger related to prop bets than ever before,” Tonko said. “Our student-athletes are particularly exposed to harassment. This growing issue is why I introduced the SAFE Bet Act.”
Without federal guidelines, states will continue to regulate, with at least 12 already holding complete bans on college player props.
In the states that don’t, gamblers are free to risk their money on the performance of student athletes like Karaban. In October of 2024, Tonko met with athletes at a Siena roundtable to discuss the problem.
“Personally, I have had some [direct messages], and it could be related to sports betting, now that I see the bigger picture,” Valencia Fontenelle-Posson, a former Siena women’s basketball player told the group.
“But I’ve had a lot of friends on men’s teams who get hate mail and death threats, which is crazy” she said. “Because all athletes are just human at the end of the day.”