Columnist Jeff German: Ensign leads charge in betting ban skirmish

Friday, April 27, 2001 | 4:15 a.m.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. He can be reached at (702) 259-4067 or by e-mail at german@lasvegassun.com.

TEAM NEVADA is waving the thumbs-up sign in the wake of last week's sports betting hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Though it's going to be difficult this week to persuade the panel to kill an NCAA-backed bill to ban betting on college sports here, casino industry lobbyists in Washington have reason to be optimistic.

Much of the credit for the brightened outlook goes to freshman Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who more than held his own on the committee against its strident chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., an ardent backer of the NCAA legislation.

It was Ensign's first time in the spotlight in the Senate on an issue of extreme importance to Nevada. And casino lobbyists and Capitol Hill insiders are giving him the highest marks possible.

"He was very well-informed, very prepared and very firm in his defense of the state's major industry," says Wayne Mehl, Washington lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association. "We certainly didn't lose any ground, and I think we probably gained some."

American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf, the industry's chief lobbyist on the Hill, says Ensign, who chaired half of the hearing, met the NCAA's high-profile witnesses head on.

"He did a tremendous job of making it very clear that the point spreads weren't going to disappear if this legislation were to pass," Fahrenkopf said.

A top aide to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who took a back seat to his Nevada colleague at the hearing, also had high praise for Ensign's performance under fire.

"He knew the issues and obviously was comfortable in the committee," the Reid aide says. "He asked some fairly probative questions and revealed the weakness and hypocrisy of the other side."

The aide adds that Ensign also wasn't afraid to challenge McCain, the former presidential candidate and champion of campaign finance reform.

On one occasion, the two Republicans got into a spat over the 1994 Arizona State point-shaving scandal.

McCain insisted that the scandal wasn't uncovered by Nevada sports books, but Ensign produced evidence to the contrary that singled out the legal betting establishments for playing a key role in alerting the public.

Besides Ensign's strong showing, Team Nevada members say they were pleased with the strategy of topping their witness list with three well-known experts outside the Silver State.

Among those testifying against the betting ban were legendary college basketball coach Pete Newell, Harvard University Medical School administrator Howard Shaffer and USA Today sports analyst Danny Sheridan, who sets the points spreads for the national newspaper.

"What we had were three people independent of the industry making the case very clearly that this bill isn't going to accomplish anything, and more important, it could make the situation worse," Fahrenkopf says.

A Nevada congressional source adds: "We were able to show that this isn't purely a parochial issue. It gave the members of the Senate another reason to look at this outside the economic and political impact it can have on Nevada."

This week, when the Commerce Committee votes on the NCAA bill, the Nevada forces are hoping the panel will approve amendments that will put more heat on universities to address the problem of illegal gambling on campuses across the country.

"We've got better traction right now," the Nevada delegation source says. "People have a better understanding of the NCAA proposal."

For Team Nevada the traction appeared good enough last week to wave the thumbs-up sign.

But then this is a new week in Washington.