The Missouri Gaming Commission on Thursday denied a request from the National Collegiate Athletic Association to ban certain college sports wagers.
The commission voted 3-0 to deny the request. However, commissioners indicated they would be open to discussing it again.
"We will continue to look at this issue, we will be tasking the staff with providing us as much information to educate ourselves going forward," Commission Chair Jan Zimmerman said. "So that if additional information changes our perspective with regard to this issue, that we have the opportunity to revisit it at a time that's appropriate."
In a letter to Commission Executive Director Michael Leara, the NCAA requested the state ban certain kinds of bets on college sports.
The NCAA wanted Missouri to prohibit betting on individual college athletes, often called player prop bets. The association also wanted a ban on first-half wager point spreads on men's and women's basketball games.
"To better protect student-athletes, game officials and competitions, state laws and regulations must be amended to remove the types of bets we know are being manipulated," the letter, signed by NCAA President Charlie Baker, said.
There are numerous ongoing betting scandals in sports, including college basketball. A federal indictment spanning three years was recently unsealed and named a former St. Louis University basketball player.
In the letter addressed to Leara, Baker said the NCAA has opened investigations of possible game manipulation by "approximately 40 student-athletes across 20 schools over the past year."
Missourians voted to approve a constitutional amendment legalizing sports betting in 2024. It began in the state on Dec. 1, 2025.
In Missouri, betting on college sports is more restrictive than professional sports. Currently, Missourians can place bets on college teams, but not on individual athletes on Missouri teams or their opponents. However, they can bet on out-of-state college athletes.
That means placing bets on Missouri winning a basketball game would be legal, while betting on specific players or players on the opponent's team is not allowed.
But Missouri residents, for example, could have also legally bet on either Indiana or Miami players in the recent College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Illinois laws on sports betting are a little stricter. They do not allow for wagers on any sporting event that involves an Illinois college team.
In response to the NCAA's request, several sports betting operators submitted their opposition to the change.
Circa Sports, one of the companies that has a betting license in Missouri, said the focus should be on "robust enforcement mechanisms and strong penalties."
Zimmerman said this request and the information around it proves there "is just so much we don't know," especially since sports betting has only been legal in Missouri for a short time.
"I just don't feel that I have enough information to grant a request by the NCAA to prohibit this type of sports wagering because I don't know enough yet, and I certainly want to know more, and I want to be allowed the option to continue to look at this," Zimmerman said.
Commissioner Kevin Spaulding echoed that it's important to gather more information about the issue.
"I would feel much more comfortable with some additional information before I made a decision one way or the other," Spaulding said.
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