New NCAA president backs bet ban

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, March 4, 2003 | 11:08 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The bill that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada still has the strong support of the influential National Collegiate Athletic Association, new President Myles Brand said today.

The NCAA has supported the legislation in the past, and "we'll do so in the future," Brand said.

But it's premature to say whether the NCAA is going to throw its weight behind an aggressive lobbying campaign for the legislation if it is reintroduced this year, Brand said today in an interview.

Brand, a former Indiana University president, said student gambling is a continuing "serious problem."

"Sports wagering on college games, both on and off campuses, runs the risk of influencing games in illegal and inappropriate ways," Brand said.

Since the bill was first introduced three years ago, the NCAA has mobilized well-respected coaches and college presidents to lobby their lawmakers to support it. The NCAA has staged well-attended press conferences on Capitol Hill during the NCAA's annual "March Madness" college basketball tournament.

But NCAA lobbying on the issue flagged last year. And Brand is not certain if such an event would be held this month, he said.

The effort to ban wagers on college sports in the one state where the wagers are offered legally -- Nevada -- has a number of supporters, including Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who pushed the legislation in 2000 and 2001. Nevada lawmakers and lobbying pressure from the gaming industry blocked the measure from advancing beyond a committee vote.

McCain has said he might reintroduce it this year. Brand said he had not spoken to McCain or other betting ban bill supporters about pursuing the legislation this year.

Aides to McCain and Graham were not immediately available for comment.

Gaming lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf said his congressional sources say McCain could re-introduce the bill as early as the next few weeks. Fahrenkopf and Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., have met to talk strategy, Fahrenkopf said, without offering details.

"(Brand) is the new president on the block, and I don't know where this issue ranks in his world of problems, but as long as McCain has this on the front burner, it's a concern for us," said Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association.

The Nevada senators are ready for yet another effort by McCain to pass the bill, Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said.

"We're equally committed to defeating it and we're confident we have the votes to," Finn said.

Bill advocates say that allowing college sports gambling in one state sends the message to students and athletes that it's generally acceptable to bet on games. They argue that outlawing bets in Nevada will help curb illegal gambling nationwide, including gambling by students. Student gambling leads to game-fixing, bill advocates say. Brownback has said it is "unseemly" to bet on students.

Nevada lawmakers and the gambling industry oppose the legislation because it would hurt the state's sports books, especially in March, when bettors flock to lay wagers on basketball during the three-weekend NCAA basketball tournament. They say banning bets in Nevada won't curb student gambling or game-fixing.

Nevada lawmakers have turned the spotlight on the NCAA, criticizing it for allowing student gambling to thrive on campus.

Brand agreed that colleges and universities should better educate students about gambling risks and better enforce rules against it.

Brand acknowledged many gambling rings on campus are run by local bookies, sometimes students, and have "nothing to do with Las Vegas."

"We all have to take steps to address this serious issue," Brand said.

Aides to Nevada lawmakers said they had not heard that any of the bill's supporters in the GOP-controlled House had concrete plans to introduce the legislation again this year. Republican leaders have told Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., that they have no interest in the bill.

Brand said the NCAA is also an advocate of legislation aimed at curbing Internet gambling, a problem for some students. The bill, already re-introduced in the new Congress, effectively prohibits Internet gambling by making it illegal to use various methods to make payments, including by credit card, debit card or check.

Brand, perhaps best known for firing controversial Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight, took over as NCAA president in December. The former philosophy professor took the helm from Cedric Demsey, a former athlete, coach and athletic administrator, and a vocal advocate of the betting ban bill.

Brand has decried the public's attention on NCAA athletics over academics. He was in Washington today to deliver a speech, "Academics First: A Progress Report," at the National Press Club.