NCAA no show at gaming regulators workshop

Lisa Snedeker

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000 | 5:12 a.m.

The NCAA was a no-show at Thursday's Nevada gaming regulators' workshop to discuss proposals to increase oversight of Nevada's legal bookmakers.

Gaming Commission Chairman Brian Sandoval was disappointed that NCAA Executive Director Cedric Dempsey did not accept his invitation to discuss proposals that are being considered in an attempt to ward off federal legislation that would halt betting on college sports.

Nevada is the only state where legal wagering on college sports takes place, though the NCAA backs a move in Congress to outlaw it.

Sandoval wants the NCAA to explain its stance.

"One of the big mysteries to me is how the NCAA remains convinced that the illegal sports wagering on college sports cannot be effectively addressed as long as the activity remains legal in Nevada," he said.

Sandoval said the nexus has never been explained.

"The time has come for an answer," he said.

In a letter to the commission, Dempsey said he would meet with Nevada gaming regulators once they determine which proposals they will adopt.

"The NCAA opposes all forms of gambling on collegiate athletes and the games they play whether done legally in the sports books of Nevada or illegally elsewhere," he wrote.

The NCAA and several high-profile college coaches maintain that Congress should outlaw all college sports betting to keep gamblers from influencing young athletes to throw games.

Sandoval said Nevada plays a key role in protecting the integrity of collegiate games by ensuring that the predatory influences associated with illegal bookmaking outside the state are not left to their own devices.

State gaming regulators are considering several self-regulating proposals, including banning illegal sports bettors from Nevada's casinos by having them blacklisted.

Other proposals would remove the ban against betting on University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas games and reaffirm a wagering ban on Olympic and high schools sports.

Another would prohibit gaming licensees from knowingly accepting wagers from athletes or coaches who participate in intercollegiate sports.

Regulators did not discuss an earlier proposal that would limit the amount of a bet placed on a single college sporting event to $550 because Sandoval said he had several concerns about the proposal.

"If this limit were adopted, an environment for illegal bookmakers would thrive and would have been created by government action," he said.

Sandoval said betting on professional and amateur sports in the state's 153 books totals about $2.5 billion a year. That's compared with an estimated illegal betting business around the nation of as much as $350 billion a year.

"This means that Nevada sports books account for less than 1 percent of the total amount wagered on sporting events annually in the United States," he said.

The purpose of the hearing was to obtain reaction from the gambling industry, the NCAA and others before the commission adopts new rules, Sandoval said. However, only three people testified Thursday at the hearing that lasted less than an hour.

Bill Bible, of the Nevada Resort Association, testified in support of the proposals.

"There is no evidence there is a linkage between legal and illegal gambling," he told the commission.

The NCAA has said the commission's proposed changes acknowledge betting on young people is wrong and are nothing more than a smoke screen.

"From the NCAA's standpoint, these proposals are a clever attempt to derail federal legislation the association has supported to ban wagering on amateur athletics," the association said.

An aide to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on the federal legislation, has said the move by Nevada regulators won't stem the push for a betting ban bill.

David Crane predicted the bill will move to the floor next year and easily win passage. Nevada's congressional delegation kept the betting ban legislation bottled up this year.