NCAA presents case to panel

Erin Neff

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 11:31 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A representative of the NCAA got an earful from politicians and the gaming industry this morning as state lawmakers considered a resolution urging Congress not to outlaw Nevada's legal sports betting on colleges.

Armed with statistics showing sports wagering in Nevada as just $2.5 billion, or roughly 1 percent, of the nation's estimated total $350 billion spent on betting, elected officials did their best to emphasize the problem isn't this state's. Nevada is the only state that allows betting on sports.

"I have thus far found no substance for the position that a ban on legal college sports wagering is the antidote to illegal college sports wagering," said Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, the sponsor of the resolution.

Former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., told a joint Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committee that the NCAA's attempt to ban betting on college sports, "is the legislative equivalent of an air ball."

"It misses the mark," Bryan added.

William S. Saum, director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, testified before the committee at Perkins' request.

"As a former college football coach, I don't feel like I'm on my home field, in front of my home crowd," Saum said.

Reading from prepared testimony submitted to the committee, Saum said the NCAA is concerned that "legal collegiate sports wagering fuels a much larger illegal collegiate sports wagering trade, impacting America's youth at an alarming rate."

Saum's testimony cited studies calling sports betting, "the addiction of the '90s," and suggesting that 18 percent of teens had bet on college sports.

"Placing legal wagers on games played by young people should not be permitted," Saum said. "The existence of any type of gambling, illegal or legal, on sporting events is a direct threat to the integrity of the contest."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., quoted from national pundits, including sports talk show host Jim Rome, who called the NCAA's legislation "political, not practical and cosmetic."

"It must not be linked to an illegal sports betting epidemic on our college campuses," Gibbons said.

Bryan said he believed college presidents should take better steps to rid their campuses of illegal wagering.

"I don't know whether (the proposed betting-ban legislation) is an attempt by the NCAA to deflect responsibility from itself," Bryan said, testifying from Las Vegas.

Joe Dini, D-Yerington, Assembly speaker emeritus, told the committee he believed control of gambling within Nevada's borders is a power reserved by the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.

"We can fight it in court, or we can persuade Congress to finally recognize that legal, rigidly controlled sports betting in Nevada is not the problem they should be fighting," Dini said. "I truly hope we can avoid a court battle by making our voices finally heard."

A panel of students was expected to testify this morning on Nevada's potential 10th Amendment lawsuit.

This morning's hearing was largely a one-sided attack on the NCAA with gaming lobbyists rubbing elbows with legislators before the hearing began and quietly offering suggestions on the resolution's wording.

State Gaming Control Board representatives also were expected to testify about how Nevada's betting regulators have been able to alert law enforcement about irregularities in wagering that was a sign of an attempt to fix games outside of the state.

Saum said Nevada's monitoring is helpful, "but this alone does not ensure protection from point-shaving scandals.'