NCAA insists it’s working to stop illegal betting

David Strow

Friday, Nov. 12, 1999 | 11:21 a.m.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association fired back at the gaming industry Thursday, accusing industry officials of trying to shift the blame in order to protect betting on collegiate sporting events.

"When you're talking about wagering on minors by adults, there's no rational response for one to come up with, so to fight the problem, you deflect it to other issues," Bill Saum, the NCAA's director of agent and gambling activities, told the Sun Thursday. "We know we have illegal bookies on campus. We're taking it straight on."

Saum was responding to comments made Wednesday by American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf on POV Vegas, a daily television news discussion show produced by the Las Vegas Sun on the cable channel Las Vegas One. On that show, Fahrenkopf accused the NCAA of trying to "cover their own tails" by pushing a federal bill that would ban wagering on college sporting events, an argument that has been echoed by gaming industry executives in the past.

"They're looking for a symbolic scalp they can keep on their belt to cover their own inefficiencies in dealing with the issue," Fahrenkopf said Wednesday.

But Saum said the NCAA is preparing to distribute booklets discussing sports betting to all of the 325,000 student-athletes in the NCAA's member schools. He also noted that the association is distributing a video, produced in conjunction with Major League Baseball, that seeks to educate student-athletes on the problem -- and that on Tuesday, the NCAA aired a seminar for athletes in the Missouri Valley Conference.

"We have been a leader in this whole issue of wagering among student-athletes," Saum said. "We've educated, investigated, and worked with law enforcement officials, the FBI, and state attorney generals. We've spent an incredible amount of money on this.

"Frank's uninformed on what the NCAA's doing."

Saum declined to reveal how much was being spent, fearing that gaming industry forces would claim it wasn't enough.

Fahrenkopf noted Wednesday that Nevada books had assisted the NCAA in cracking down on betting activity by student-athletes before. The most high-profile case recently was a point-shaving scandal among several members of the Arizona State University basketball team -- a scandal that was broke open by a tip from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Saum agreed that the NCAA has worked closely with casinos in the past to stop the problem, but argued that didn't absolve them from their responsibilities. In the Arizona State case, Saum said, more than $1 million in bets connected to the ring went through legal Las Vegas casinos.

"When did they become a useful tool? It was after the point shaving had already occurred," Saum said. "There has been no gambling case where the casino stopped a point-shaving case.

"We have had very good relations with the sports books up and down the Strip, and we're appreciative of that. But in regards to Vegas's contributions, they don't stop the point-shaving."

Saum acknowledged that wiping out the estimated $750 million in Nevada betting on college games won't solve the problem of gambling among student-athletes, but added that won't deter the NCAA from moving forward. He said he was unaware of when a bill would be introduced in the Senate.

"Any one action in this fight against youth gambling doesn't solve the problem," Saum said. "It is a very large puzzle with many pieces. Each piece gives an opportunity for success.

"This whole issue is a journey, and no one thing is going to solve the problem."