NCAA to testify at state hearing

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2001 | 11:15 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The NCAA, which twice rejected invitations to appear before the state Gaming Commission, has agreed to testify before the Nevada Legislature on its efforts to ban betting on college sports events.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said today that William S. Saum, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities, will testify Friday before a joint meeting of the judiciary committees.

The NCAA is pushing legislation through Congress to outlaw wagering on intercollegiate sports. Nevada is the only state where this is allowed. And Nevada's congressional delegation has introduced an alternative bill to clamp down on illegal sports betting in other states.

Perkins said he wrote Cedric Dempsey, president of the NCAA, in mid-February to invite a representative to testify on Assembly Joint Resolution 2, sponsored by the speaker, which asks Congress not to interfere with Nevada's right to regulate sports betting within its borders.

"I applaud the NCAA for accepting my invitation to testify on AJR2," Perkins said. "Their participation will help the Legislature to determine how Nevada can better work with the NCAA to combat illegal gambling on college sports."

Bill Bible, president of the Nevada Resort Association, said Saum testified twice before the National Gambling Impact Commission. Saum, according to Bible, said that Nevada's books had helped in pinpointing illegal wagering. He said nowhere did Saum ever advocate a national ban on sports wagering.

Bible, who was a member of the national commission, said the NCAA -- probably to head off criticism about its lack of enforcement -- then started on its drive to stop betting in Nevada. He said the NCAA had no program to stop betting on campuses or to educate students.

Bible did not think the appearance of Saum before the Legislature is a change in the policy of the NCAA to stop legal betting.

Also scheduled to testify Friday are Perkins, former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, Assemblyman Joe Dini, D-Yerington, and representatives of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the Nevada Gaming Commission and the gaming industry.

The hearing, Perkins said, will give Nevada a chance to present its objections to the proposed national ban. "This issue is critical to Nevada; the proposed ban is an infringement on our right to regulate gaming within our state borders and a threat to the economy of our state and the jobs of a number of our residents."

Gaming Commission Chairman Brian Sandoval in December invited Dempsey or a representative to appear before the commission, which was considering tightening the rules on sports betting, in an effort to head off the national prohibition. Dempsey said then, "...we remained convinced that illegal sports wagering on college sports cannot be effectively addressed as long as the activity remains legal in Nevada."

The commission adopted new regulations to prohibit betting on high school and Olympic events, banning coaches and team members from wagering on games; expanding the "Black Book" to exclude unsavory individuals from sports betting centers and increasing the reporting to authorities of suspicious wagers.

The commission also repealed a long-time regulation that prohibited betting on UNLV and the University of Nevada, Reno.

The NCAA contends that betting on collegiate sports tends to lead to corruption and potential fixing of games or point spreads.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona., is pushing the bill to outlaw betting on intercollegiate sports. The Nevada congressional delegation was able to bottle up the legislation last year. But gaming officials say they face an uphill battle this year to defeat the bill.