Imagine your star quarterback is hanging out in his on-campus apartment, one Power 5 athletic director posits. A kid down the hall comes over and with an idea for placing a $10,000 prop bet on whether or not the first offensive play of the next game is a pass, a decision that the quarterback ultimately controls.



Come Saturday, the offensive coordinator calls for a handoff. The quarterback throws the ball anyway, earning his cut of the $10,000 bet. That hypothetical, as the sports gambling enters a new era of public visibility and popularity, is what athletic directors fear most.



The legalization of sports betting on a state-by-state basis, made possible by a May 2018 Supreme Court ruling, is a uniquely complicated issue for college sports because its athletes are unpaid laborers. It’s incredibly unlikely that Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, who make tens of million dollars a year, would be tempted by a $10,000 prop bet on the first offensive play of a game. But a...