Editorial: Sports-betting ban is misguided effort

Tuesday, April 1, 2003 | 8:46 a.m.

Every year at this time, when college basketball's March Madness is in full swing, legislation is introduced in Congress to ban betting on amateur sporting events. So far, however, the prohibition efforts have been turned back. The ban proponents remain undeterred, though, and this year Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., the legendary former college football coach, is sponsoring the anti-betting legislation. Nevada is the only state where it is legal to wager on sporting events, but anti-betting proponents claim that its legal existence here allows it to proliferate across the nation as illegal bookies use the betting lines posted by Las Vegas casinos. Osborne claims that the legislation's ancillary effect would help "return the emphasis of amateur athletics back to skill, endurance and excellence."

Big-time college sports does have its problems, but betting on the games isn't one of them. The supporters of the betting ban should instead devote their energy to cleaning up all the scandals involving corrupt athletic departments, academic cheating and criminal activity by athletes. All a betting ban would do is drive wagering underground, allowing offshore operations to set the betting line on college games. Betting on sports can't be stamped out. The money wagered on office pools for the NCAA Tournament -- an estimated $2.5 billion in 2002 -- puts to shame how much Nevada's sports books received in legal bets, about $80 million last year. Congress should show the same common sense that it has in the past and defeat this legislation that will do absolutely nothing to curb wagering on college sports.