SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey says player prop bans are at a ‘superficial level’

In college sports, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is extremely powerful. His conference is one of the most profitable and Sankey doesn’t want to change that. On Monday, he spoke at the league’s spring meetings. Sankey discussed player props being banned in states in the SEC that have a legal betting market. The SEC recognizes the issue, but it doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of their agenda. Currently, six states in the SEC have legal sports betting markets. Once the 2024 season starts, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Florida will be added to the list of legal states. Commissioner Sankey had this to say Monday about NCAA Predidnet Charlie Baker wanting player props to be banned nationwide.

“We had a conversation here last year about it with our student-athletes, so we attach the mental health conversation to sports gambling to the pressures that we are learning about,” said Sankey. “It is a conversation that is taking place at a superficial level. There’s a depth to it to come. Obviously, (NCAA president) Charlie Baker’s been clear about the need for some change, getting away from the open-ended nature of things.”

Charlie Baker has been working for months to get support for player props to be banned

NCAA President Charlie Baker argues that collegiate player props are against the integrity of the game. It’s led to student-athletes being harassed and Baker wants to put an end to that. So far, Ohio, Maryland, and Vermont have complied with the NCAA’s request to ban collegiate player props. Additionally, Louisiana will not be allowed to place collegiate player prop bets as of August 1, 2024. Montana and Michigan have also looked into possibly collegiate player prop at some point in the future.

Greg Sankey is worried about another issue in the SEC

Banning collegiate player props is not a top priority for Greg Sankey and the SEC. Rather, they want to try and reduce the unregulated markets. Currently, 38 states have a legal sports betting market. However, unregulated wagering still occurs and Greg Sankey wants to put an end to that. He had this to say.

“Also, we’re talking about legalized sports gambling, and I saw some numbers that I didn’t study up yesterday, reading a report,” said Sankey. “There’s still staggering numbers of, I guess, unsanctioned sports betting that takes place so yeah, it’s a conversation but we haven’t gone deep and we have started writing letters on the issue.”

Sankey expects more clarity in the next 12 months as they try and tackle the issue of unregulated markets. He noted that it’s now in the hands of the judicial system.