Panel opens debate on betting bill

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, March 29, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain drew a crowd -- and criticism from Nevada officials -- today during the first Congressional hearing on a bill that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada casinos.

McCain's Senate Commerce Committee is considering the bill being pushed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association that Nevada representatives say would hurt the state's sports books. The hearing featured high-profile witnesses on both sides of the issue.

Bill supporters argued the legislation would curb game-fixing schemes and rampant betting on college campuses. Nevada and gaming officials say the betting ban would not solve those problems.

Perhaps the essence of the debate -- and the battle to come -- was illustrated best when respected Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun sat at one end of the hearing table and influential gaming lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf took a seat at the other.

Calhoun said he was afraid of a culture of betting that exists on campuses where student bookies thrive.

"The fact that our student athletes live in this culture and in fact have become the focal point of billions being wagered is a very dangerous situation," Calhoun said. He said the publishing of point spreads in newspapers nationwide sends athletes a message that gambling is legitimate outside Nevada.

"It's a message that scares me," Calhoun said. "These are 18- to 21-year-old kids. Trust me, I coach them. They are kids."

Fahrenkopf tried to counter "myths" of college gambling with facts. He said Nevada sports books are not an integral part of the problem.

"This month around $70 million will be wagered in Nevada on 'March Madness,' while several billion dollars will be wagered illegally outside Nevada," Fahrenkopf said.

The hearing was punctuated by several lively exchanges, one between McCain and Fahrenkopf; another between Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., and NCAA official and University of Kentucky President Charles Wethington.

McCain peppered Fahrenkopf with several questions, asking him if it wasn't hypocritical for Nevada to ban gambling on in-state universities and on how much money is laundered in Nevada casinos. Fahrenkopf directed McCain to talk with federal regulators who would say that problem was minimal.

Fahrenkopf also was questioned by bill sponsor Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who asked him directly if it was "unseemly" to bet on college kids.

Fahrenkopf hesitated but eventually answered, "I do not. If it's illegal, I do."

Bryan, who sits on the McCain-chaired Commerce Committee, grilled Wethington on why the NCAA had only three national-level officials dedicated to cracking down on campus betting. He questioned why the NCAA spent so little of its $6 billion television contract on the problem.

"I think its a proper proportion at this point. We have other problems we are trying to deal with at the same time," Wethington said, adding that the NCAA planned to increase efforts aimed at student betting.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., took on the NCAA more directly.

"The NCAA -- this is fun for them -- it diverts attention from their incompetence," in addressing student gambling, Reid said.

In a moment of levity, Reid drew laughter telling McCain, R-Ariz., "We felt you really moved forward on this once Arizona lost in the (second) round of the NCAA."

"Guilty," McCain said, smiling.

The hearing fell during the backdrop of the NCAA's crown jewel event "March Madness" basketball tournament, which concludes Monday.

Nevada's members in the House also blasted the bill. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., called the legislation an "illegal bookie's dream" that would send more gamblers underground. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she would introduce her own bill, "Illegal Sports Betting Enforcement Act."

"My bill would investigate the scope and uncover the causes of illegal campus-betting," Berkley said. "My bill calls on the NCAA to step up gambling prevention programs on campuses. The NCAA-proposed bill takes no responsibility."

Gibbons and Reid also have introduced their own bills, which would direct the Department of Justice to study illegal gambling.

A star witness for Nevada was Gaming Commission Chairman Brian Sandoval, who testified immediately after a Sports Illustrated reporter told McCain's committee that gambling was indeed rampant on college campuses, pointing to several of his stories.

Sandoval assured the committee that sports books are highly regulated and carefully licensed. Sports books can be a key player in spotting game-fixing schemes, he said.

"Integrity is the watch-word," Sandoval said.

took on the NCAA more directly.