The Impact of Player Props on Game Outcomes

What are Player Props in Sports Betting?

Prop bets have been an important part of the betting industry in regulated sportsbooks in Las Vegas and Atlantic City for decades. Proposition bets are wagers on specific outcomes in a game rather than the final score. Player props relate to individual performances, such as personal points totals, shots on target, or minutes played. 

Popular Player Props in 2024

• Total passing yards (football)
• Total receiving yards (football)
• Total interceptions (football – quarterbacks)
• Total touchdowns (football)
• Total goals (soccer)
• Shots on target (soccer)
• Cards received (soccer)
• Total home runs (baseball)
• Dot balls bowled (cricket)

Factors in Player Prop Betting

Millions of safe, legit prop bets are placed every year. However, some organizations are now concerned about the temptations for sportsmen to be corrupted by gambling syndicates. 

In 2024, an unnamed NBA player with gambling debts was paid to throw games to win prop bets for the syndicate. Toronto Raptors player, Jontay Porter, feigned injury on-court so that he was removed from games and won prop minutes on Porter’s total minutes played. 

Impact on College Sports

• NCAA calling for ban on prop bets
• Ohio banned player props in 2024
• Power of gambling syndicates understated

The legalization of sports betting in the US has opened the doors to 1000s of new markets at sportsbooks, including college sports betting. However, only now are states moving to rein back on some of their betting laws. 

In 2024, Ohio – one of the newer states to regulate sports betting – banned prop bets on college sports. 

Under pressure from the NCAA, who have long been concerned about the effect on tempted college basketball players, the move will protect college players from corrupt gambling syndicates. 

Maryland, Louisiana, and Vermont are among US states to ban college sports props. Arizona and New York launched their regulated sports betting markets with prohibition on college sports props. 

Problem Gambling Risks

• Prevalence of sports betting means rise in problem gambling
• Power of gambling syndicates increasing
• Lower-league sportsmen and college students vulnerable

It’s not just in US sports where player props have led to scandals. In data-heavy sports like cricket, the opportunities for match-fixing are rife. In 2010, Pakistan bowlers were paid by a syndicate to bowl a number of no-balls during a test against England. 

What the Pakistan dot-ball scandal had in common with the Toronto Raptors case is problem gambling. The sports agent who instigated the cricket scandal was sports agent, Mazhar Majeed, who reportedly had debts of over £700,000 when he approached the young Pakistan bowlers.  

Not only can you bet on very specific outcomes – such as the number of dot-balls bowled – but you can now bet on obscure leagues and sports. Many bookmakers offer markets in semi-pro sports leagues where the opportunities for match-fixing are greater. 

Back in 2016, the BBC and Buzzfeed reported the names of players to the Tennis Integrity Unit who they alleged had been corrupted by professional betting syndicates to concede points.