Louisiana is banning certain sports bets: What you need to know

Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns said the state will outlaw what are known as proposition bets on college players beginning in August because of rising threats against athletes when they don't cover the bets.

Proposition bets — or prop bets - allow gamblers to make wagers on statistics a player will accumulate during a game rather than the final score.

"There have definitely been reports where athletes are threatened and villified for not covering a bet," Johns said in an interview with USA Today Network. "These are college kids and shouldn't be subjected to that."

Louisiana legalized sports betting in 2020 and issued its first licenses to sports books in 2021.

Last month at the start of the March Madness men's and women's basketball tournaments NCAA President Charlie Baker encouraged states to consider banning the prop bets on individual athletes.

“Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity of competition and leading to student-athletes getting harassed,” Baker said in a statement. “The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.”

But Johns said he and Louisiana Gaming Control Board partners State Police and Attorney General Liz Murrill began considering the ban even before Baker's call to action.

"We began discussions weeks ago after we noticed a growing problem across the country," Johns said. "We wanted to hit it head on and early and believe it's the right thing to do."

Johns said he isn't aware of any Louisiana college athletes being threatened, "but we wanted to be proactive rather than reactive."

The ban will begin Aug. 1 before the kickoff of the college football season.

"It is the intention of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board to protect the integrity of sports betting as well as the safety and integrity of college athletes," Johns said. "We feel that this order accomplishes that goal."

All existing bets will be honored.

"I've received no pushback from the industry," Johns said of the decision. "They're on board."

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Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1. 

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Louisiana makes major change to sports betting rules