Guinn throws support behind gaming fight

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

Gov. Kenny Guinn quietly held his own mini-summit with casino industry leaders this week to discuss strategy in the fight against the NCAA's push for a betting ban on college sports.

The meeting took place two weeks after a high-level gathering of casino executives with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., prompting some skeptical Capitol Hill insiders to describe it as the "me-too summit."

But Guinn said Tuesday that he called gaming leaders to his Las Vegas office Monday to offer his assistance in the bitter battle.

"I wanted to make sure we have a coordinated effort and that we're on the same wavelength so we don't do anything that would create a problem for them," Guinn said.

Guinn said he met for an hour with Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, and Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, which is spearheading the industry's fight against the NCAA in Washington.

Both Bible and Fahrenkopf, who made a special trip to Las Vegas from Washington at the governor's request, participated in Reid's Dec. 6 summit.

Also on hand for the Guinn meeting was Nevada Gaming Commission Chairman Brian Sandoval, NRA Chairman Mark Dodson, a Park Place Entertainment executive vice president, and Marybel Batjer, the governor's new chief of staff.

Bible, former chairman of the state Gaming Control Board, said he came away from the meeting with a good feeling.

"I think it was productive," he said. "Obviously the response to the NCAA threat needs to be a coordinated response, and the governor should be commended for helping coordinate the effort."

Some Capitol Hill insiders suggested Guinn may have been trying to assert himself in a competing leadership role with Reid in the fight.

"You either have to assume this is a big coincidence or they're playing off of each other," one Washington source said. "There seems to be a little bit of testing going on here."

But Guinn made it clear Tuesday that the lead in the fight will have to come from Washington, where the NCAA is mustering up support for a new bill to ban betting on college sports.

He said he briefed Reid Tuesday on his meeting.

"This is an issue that's going to be settled in Washington," Guinn said. "I want everyone to know the state is willing to help in any way it can."

Reid said this morning that he welcomed the Republican governor's initiative.

"If ever there was an issue when everyone needs to be on the same page, this is it," Reid said from Washington. "I think we have to do everything we can to keep the focus on this."

Fahrenkopf would not discuss the meeting with Guinn.

But he said: "This is going to be a tough, tough battle"

Guinn said he was determined to make sure the state doesn't do anything to set back the casino industry's battle plans.

Earlier this year, Sandoval surprised casino executives when he publicly pushed a $550 cap on all wagers in Nevada as part of a series of proposals aimed at warding off pending legislation in Congress.

The cap proposal, however, ended up giving the NCAA and its allies on Capitol Hill more ammunition in the fight. The NCAA took it to mean the industry was acknowledging that a large number of illegal bets were being laid off at Las Vegas sports books from around the country.

Sandoval later abandoned the betting cap idea.

Reid called gaming executives together earlier this month to urge them to take a more proactive stance in the fight and come up with a comprehensive strategy to derail the NCAA campaign.

At that summit, Fahrenkopf presented the casino leaders with a written plan that insiders said would require a greater financial commitment from the industry.

Nevada's congressional delegation expects the NCAA's allies to introduce a new betting ban bill out of the starting blocks of the new Congress next year.