Costas testifies against sports betting

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission turned its attention today to the problems of sports betting across the country.

NBC Sportscaster Bob Costas told the nine-member panel how a gambling addiction turned his own father's life "upside down."

Ironically, the Emmy-winning sportscaster said, he acquired his interest in sports as a youth watching games in which his father had wagered hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Costas also pointed to the well-publicized case of former football star Art Schlichter, whose life was devastated by a gambling addiction.

Schlichter, now in prison was turned into a "criminal" because of his uncontrollable habit, Costas said.

Schlichter's former wife, Mitzi Schlichter, was on the same panel with Costas. She later talked about her ex-husband's personal tragedy in dramatic detail.

"The purpose in sharing my story is to show the importance of families in addressing the problem of compulsive gambling," she said. "With proper awareness, families that are concerned about their loved ones can become alert."

Costas said the rise in sports betting across the country is "cause for concern."

John Shosky, a senior researcher for the commission, testified that one study shows $88 billion is gambled illegally on sporting events each year.

In Nevada, he said, the legal sports betting industry takes in $2.5 billion a year.

Earlier this year, Shosky said, a record $77.3 million was wagered at Nevada sports books on the Super Bowl between the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos.

"Illegal gambling on the Super Bowl may be 100 times that amount," he said.

William Saum, an investigator with the NCAA, testified that sports betting has become nearly an epidemic on the nation's college campuses.

Gambling among student athletes also is on the rise, as evidenced by the growing number of point-shaving scandals in college sports, Saum said.

"I have seen students, their families and institutions publicly humiliated," he said. "I have watched students be expelled from college, lose athletic scholarships worth thousands of dollars and jeopardize any hope of a career in professional athletics.

"In most cases, the scenario is strikingly familiar. Student athletes who have begun gambling on sports incur losses beyond their means to repay and, as a result, become vulnerable to point-shaving schemes."

Saum said sports betting will continue to flourish on college campuses unless a strong effort is made to enforce state and federal laws prohibiting that kind of activity.