North Carolina lawmakers push to ban college athlete prop bets

A group of North Carolina lawmakers is pushing to ban proposition bets on college athletes, just over a year after the state launched legal sports betting.

House Bill 828, filed this week, would prohibit sportsbooks from offering prop bets on individual college athletes. The bill, led by Rep. Mitchell Setzer, is co-sponsored by Reps. Pricey Harrison, Marcia Morey, Neal Jackson, and Joseph Pike. A similar measure, filed by Morey last year, failed to advance.

The renewed push comes amid growing concerns about the impact of sports betting on student-athletes and the integrity of collegiate sports.

Harrison, who opposed sports betting when it was legalized in 2023, has been vocal about the potential risks. “Gambling is as addictive as opioids, which we are fighting on this floor. And yet here we’re debating this bill,” she said at the time. 

Likewise, NCAA President Charlie Baker urged all U.S. sportsbooks to ban prop bets on individual college athletes. Some states, like Ohio, have already done so, while others see no problem with allowing them.

House Bill 828 also aims to restrict betting at the site of college sporting events. If passed, wagers would be banned for eight hours before and during events held in the state.

The legislation mirrors a broader effort at the federal level. Earlier this year, Rep. Michael Baumgartner of Washington introduced HR 1552, known as the PROTECT for Student Athletes Act, which seeks to implement similar safeguards nationwide.

North Carolina launched legal sports betting on March 11, 2024, and the industry has quickly taken off. March 2025 set a new record for monthly betting handle in the state, with $685 million in wagers—surpassing the previous high set in March 2024. The surge was fueled in part by Duke University’s men’s basketball team reaching the NCAA Final Four.