Columnist Jeff Haney: NCAA official makes his point in Carson City

Wednesday, March 7, 2001 | 9:38 a.m.

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com

When Bill Saum spoke before the Judiciary Committee of the Nevada State Assembly on Friday, it marked the first time an NCAA official had participated in a discussion here regarding federal legislation to outlaw betting on college sports.

Before Saum's testimony in Carson City, the NCAA had consistently declined to send a representative to Nevada gatherings related to the proposed ban. The implication was that the NCAA is so steadfastly against gambling, it would not even listen to what the "other side" had to say.

While Saum, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities, drew some praise for appearing before the assembly panel, the arguments he trotted out were the same ones the NCAA has espoused since the debate began.

But one of those arguments, while not exactly new, should send chills through Nevadans with an interest in keeping college sports betting legal in the state.

In Saum's testimony, he spelled it out like this: "Discontinuation of college sports wagering would not result in a serious threat to the Nevada economy."

Cynics have suggested that "Big Gaming" might basically agree with that point, and therefore might not fight so hard to keep college sports betting if it means losing other battles.

Most sports book managers, of course, would disagree that the amount wagered on college sports is insignificant. They have said repeatedly that if college betting is outlawed, it would result in smaller operations and cutbacks in the sports book.

Those cynics' arguments, however, won't go away. And Friday's public testimony in Carson City, at least parts of it, hammered their point home again.

As Saum pointed out, in 2000 approximately $2.3 billion was wagered in Nevada sports books, and casinos retained $124 million, or 5.33 percent, of the total amount. Saum then quoted Steve DuCharme, former chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, as saying the amount kept by casinos on sports betting is "very small" compared to other casino games.

"Furthermore, the amount wagered on college sports is only a little more than one-third of the total," Saum said. "In an industry driven by billions of dollars -- 2000 total casino revenues were $9.6 billion -- the elimination of collegiate sports wagering will have little impact on state revenues or on the casinos' bottom line."

In other words, the amount wagered on college sports is only about four-tenths of one percent of overall casino revenues.

"Fears that federal legislation prohibiting sports wagering in Nevada will be a serious threat to the Nevada economy are not supported by the facts," Saum concluded.

And that four-tenths of one percent doesn't come easy -- from the perspective of "Big Gaming," it comes only after paying the salaries of a crew of oddsmakers to stay one small step (or less) ahead of professional sports bettors in the race for good information.

So maybe only a cynic would contend that top casino bosses would just as soon forget about the "hassle" of college sports betting and replace some sports book real estate with a bank of new video poker machines. But those cynics are out there.

Meanwhile, the rest of Saum's points sounded familiar. Some excerpts:

Among other panelists before the committee Friday was Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, who said, "We in the Nevada Legislature are second to none in our desire to protect college athletes from criminal influence. However, repealing college sports wagering in Nevada will not strengthen that protection; it will weaken it."

Also getting action are Iowa State (15-1, down from an opening line of 30-1), Illinois (currently 6-1) and Maryland (15-1).

Not attracting much attention are Syracuse at 75-1 (up from 50-1), Seton Hall at 500-1 (up from 100-1) and St. John's at 1,000-1 (up from 500-1). ...

A free "Tournament Essentials Seminar" is scheduled for next Wednesday, March 14, from 6-10 p.m. at the Stardust hotel-casino. Sponsored by Vegas Insider, the symposium will feature information for bettors on the NCAA Tournament. Sign up to attend by clicking onto www.vegasinsider.com. ...

Ken White still leads a field of 10 in the Stardust invitational handicapping tournament, which winds up March 15, the first day of the tournament, when the top four entrants will square off in a playoff. The winner-take-all prize is $10,000. ...

Among 10 matchup propositions for this weekend's Honda Classic, as posted at the Regent: Jim Furyk (minus 130) vs. Mark Calcavecchia (plus 110); Stuart Appleby vs. Hal Sutton (minus 110 each way); Bernhard Langer (minus 130) vs. John Daly (plus 110). Phil Mickelson is favored at 5-1, followed by Furyk at 12-1.