Move to ban college bets pleases ex-regent

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2000 | 10:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nancy Price senses victory may be near in her eight-year quest to ban betting in Nevada casinos on college sports.

Once a lone voice in the wilderness, the former university regent from North Las Vegas is now aligned with the NCAA, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno and former North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith.

"The gambling industry should not make money off a game that is paid for by taxpayers," says Price, who gained the reputation of being a maverick while serving on the regents board for the University and Community College System of Nevada.

Nancy Price's husband, Bob, is a senior member of the Assembly. And twice he introduced bills to prohibit betting on college games in Nevada. After brief hearings, they both died in committee in 1993 and 1997.

Today, Nancy Price senses success.

"The tact being taken then was to ignore what I was doing, which worked OK for me," she said. "It allowed me to get the groundwork. I was going against the flow.

"They told me in 1992 that nothing would happen but things are moving."

Sens. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., are leading the effort in Congress for legislation to prohibit legal betting on high school, college and Olympic games. Nevada is the only state with legal wagering on college games.

Millions of dollars are bet illegally on amateur sports across the nation, including on college campuses. Price is realistic about the difficulties in stopping illegal betting. But having a federal law that applies everywhere sets the tone. It sends a message, she said.

"It's the public policy on what message you want to send to the kids. Sports should not be a tool for gamblers," she said.

She thinks the casino industry would be wise to give up the college sports without losing all betting.

"I'm hoping with enough pressure, the gaming industry will voluntarily draw the line in college sports ... they will be a big hero.

'I'm not interested in professional sports. But if you don't draw the line, where will it be -- Little League or betting on elections?" she asked. "Drawing the line is an important concept. If they don't and the idea catches on ... when we start hearing the horror stories, ... they could lose the whole thing," referring to both professional and amateur sports wagering.

But the casino industry is digging in its heels for a fight in Congress. Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, said this is a college campus problem -- not one dealing with Nevada's legal books.

"No one can establish a nexus between illegal gambling activity on college campuses across the country and the legal sports book industry in Nevada," Fahrenkopf said.

Another opposing view on banning betting on collegiate sports comes from UNLV President Carol Harter, who drafted a letter Monday to her fellow university presidents asking for their support in opposing a betting ban.

In the letter Harter states, "As a member of the NCAA Board of Directors and your Mountain West Conference representative, I am distressed at what I see as an exercise in symbolism rather than a thoughtful attempt to curb or eliminate illegal wagering among college athletes on or around campuses across the United States."

Harter goes on to say the ban would threaten television revenue that supports collegiate athletic programs, increase illegal betting and remove controls offered by legal sports books.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., assistant minority leader in the Senate, is introducing a bill to study the problem of betting on college campuses.

Price said there have been a lot of studies in the past. They show that where there is legal betting, there is an increase in illegal betting. "People become addicted and go through loan sharks and illegal books, to finance their betting habits."

And spin-offs can include suicide, spousal abuse or child abuse, she said.

Price had intended to be at the press conference when Brownback and Leahy announced their plans for the bill. But a major storm prevented her from getting to Washington, D.C., and she quipped, "It made me wonder if God is a gambler."

She said she will be lending her support to the bill in Congress and would be willing to testify in support of it. Outside of Nevada, she thinks the tide is turning against college sports wagering.

A report by the state Gaming Control Board showed that in fiscal 1998, revenue from the sports pool at the 235 largest casinos in the state amounted to $77.4 million or 1 percent of the gross gaming win. A board spokesman said it doesn't break down the money bet on professional and amateur sports.

Price says it is only a small part of the casino picture and it would not cripple the industry if it lost college sports wagering.

Sun reporter Jace Radke contributed to this report.