UNR professor wants NCAA betting legalized nationwide

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 12:18 p.m.

Proposals in Congress to outlaw gambling on NCAA events at legal sports books in Nevada should instead be aimed at illegal sports books that operate across the country, said Richard Davies, a history professor.

"There would be no legalized sports books in the United States to keep an eye on things. The sports books are a major guard against fixed games," Davies said.

In 1994, a Las Vegas sports book helped uncover a fixed game, when unusual betting activity was taking place surrounding an Arizona State-Washington men's basketball game, he said. An investigation led to one athlete pleading guilty to point-shaving.

"I think the wise thing is, as I told the NCAA, instead of abolishing (legal sports betting), it would be wise to legalize it in the 49 other states," Davies said.

Legal sports wagering in Nevada is estimated at more than $2 billion a year, while illegal betting around the country has been said to be as high as $300 billion.

Roger Trounday, senior vice president of administration at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, said nearly half of all the sports book's activity is college sports.

The casino is gearing up for this month's NCAA basketball tournament, which along with college football bowl games, brings in several more customers than are usually seen.

"It (a ban) would shut down our sports side of our sports books. You take such a big element away and it would be a severe blow," Trounday said, leaving casinos to offer only professional sports and horse race betting.

The legislation was most recently introduced in the Senate by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and in the House by Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., last month. The bill would prohibit high school and college sports gambling in all states, including those where such gambling was permitted before 1991.

Senator Harry Reid, D-Nev., introduced another bill a week after Brownback's bill was introduced on the Senate floor. Reid's proposal, Senate Bill 2050, calls for the establishment of a panel to investigate gambling on college sports and recommend a way to combat the problem.

A similar bill was introduced in the House Wednesday by Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. Both bills ask for a year-long study on illegal gaming. There have been no co-sponsors for Reid's bill, but there has been support in the House for Gibbons and Berkley's bill.

Nevada is the only state that allows collegiate sports betting. Because of that, Davies said illegal gaming isn't a problem here.

"One of the big problems are student bookies. I've never uncovered a single student bookie on this campus," Davies said. "I think the legislation is misguided."

Trounday said regardless of where they have to go, gamblers will find a way to place wagers on collegiate sporting events.

"The serious gamblers are always going to find someplace to gamble," Trounday said.

University of Nevada athletic director Chris Ault, who is opposed to a ban on college betting, said the state's economy would take a hit.

"There would be a huge impact on the Nevada economy, where it is controlled and regulated. It's ridiculous. It should be banned outside of the state. In terms of our state, it is part of our economy," Ault said. "It (the anti-gaming bill) appears to be losing momentum."

Ault said the gaming industry is a source of charitable contributions to several programs around the state, and many people could be affected by a ban, because casinos will be operating with less revenue.

Through his studies on gaming, Davies said casinos take a greater hit in the sports books, because odds are better for customers than traditional casino games. Davies suggested legislators look at state lotteries, because they are disguised as a methods of taxing "the poor and ignorant."