Former coach introduces NCAA bet ban legislation

Benjamin Grove

Friday, March 28, 2003 | 10:42 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., used the backdrop of the national college basketball tournament this week to re-introduce the legislation that would outlaw betting on the games in Nevada sports books.

"By continuing to allow Nevada sports books and the gambling industry to usurp billions of dollars from fans, players and families across the U.S., we are supporting an industry that is considered illegal in nearly every state in the union," said Osborne, a former University of Nebraska football coach.

Nevada is the only state that offers legalized wagering on college sports. Lawmakers who have sought to ban the gambling say it is unseemly to bet on college athletes. They say that banning legal gambling in Nevada will help curb illegal gambling nationwide and may curb game-fixing.

Bill supporters say the legislation would protect the integrity of college sports.

"Permitting Las Vegas-style betting on these sports diminishes these ideals and the hard work and dedication of our athletes," said Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wisc., a former quarterback at Harvard University.

University coaches and presidents in the past four years have made passionate appeals to Congress to ban Nevada betting. But Nevada lawmakers and the gaming industry lobby have prevented the legislation from advancing and they vowed to stop it yet again this year. Leaders in the GOP-controlled House have no interest in pushing the legislation, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., has said.

Nevada lawmakers and gaming industry officials say that banning legal bets in Nevada will not curb illegal gambling. The amount wagered in legal Nevada betting is tiny compared to bets made illegally, they say. They say the NCAA should do more to tackle gambling problems on campuses.

Osborne has good intentions but is "dead wrong" in his approach, American Gaming Association president Frank Fahrenkopf said in a statement.

"The problem that exists in this country today with regard to college sports wagering is the illegal activity taking place in the other 49 states, not the legal activity in Nevada," he said.

Nevada lawmakers had expected the bill to resurface again this year. The betting ban bill's supporters in past years have used the high-profile National Collegiate Athletic Association's annual basketball tournament to focus attention on the issue. Osborne deliberately re-introduced the bill Wednesday in the middle of the "March Madness" event.

A similar bill has not yet been introduced in the Senate, where Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is a strong supporter of banning bets in Nevada.