Saturday, March 19, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

College betting ban resurfaces

Ex-Nebraska coach reintroduces bill; sports books call measure unnecessary

Art Lopez, a sports book cashier at Palace Station, changes the line Friday on a college basketball game. A bill was resubmitted Friday that would prohibit Nevada sports books from taking bets on March Madness or any other college sporting events. Photo by Jeff Scheid. "Gambling creates an unhealthy climate in amateur sports where the emphasis goes from appreciation for excellence and skill to point spreads and monetary gain." REP. TOM OSBORNE NEBRASKA REPUBLICAN

WASHINGTON -- On the same day the NCAA men's basketball tournament moved into full swing, a congressman and former football coach revived a bill to prohibit Nevada casinos from taking bets on college sporting events.

Rep. Tom Osborne, R-Neb., reintroduced the anti-betting legislation Thursday, citing the negative effects gambling can have on college athletics and student-athletes.

"Gambling creates an unhealthy climate in amateur sports where the emphasis goes from appreciation for excellence and skill to point spreads and monetary gain," Osborne said in a statement.

Osborne, who coached two national championship football teams at the University of Nebraska before entering politics, introduced a similar bill two years ago. Thirty-three other members of the House backed the bill, but it was never scheduled for a congressional hearing.

Once feared by the Nevada gaming industry because of its support from college presidents, coaches and the NCAA, the anti-betting bill has lost much of its momentum since being introduced in 2000 by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

McCain, who has been the betting ban's leading advocate in the Senate, said last month that he does not plan to resurrect his bill until there is another betting scandal. Calls to McCain's office were not returned Friday.

Art Manteris, vice president of Station Casinos sports books, said it was "a little bit disheartening" to hear of Osborne's efforts. But he said Nevada lawmakers and gaming leaders have done a good job of handling the issue.

"I'm not shocked by it, but I'm very confident in the leaders in Nevada, and they did a tremendous job fighting it the last time around," said Manteris, a bookmaker in Las Vegas since 1978. "If we have to, we will circle the wagons again.

"There is no public outcry for that type of legislation at this time. It seems like a huge waste of taxpayer dollars to go through that process again, and I hope it doesn't happen."

Without wagering on college sports, Stardust sports book director Bob Scucci said, the industry would suffer.

"It would be tough to put an exact dollar amount on it, but college football and basketball combine for maybe one-third of our (betting) handle," Scucci said.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, an estimated $85 million was wagered in the state last year on the three-week NCAA Tournament. A record of just under $91 million was wagered on the Super Bowl in early February.

But those numbers are dwarfed by what is bet illegally across the country and at offshore books. If legal wagering on college sports is banned in Nevada, Scucci said, illegal wagering "would be bigger than ever."

"What (the bill) affects is legal wagering, and I don't think that has ever been the problem," Scucci said. "Frankly, I don't understand what Congress is trying to do. Everybody is out here having a great time betting recreationally on this tournament."

As a crowd of about 500 people crammed into the Mirage sports book Friday afternoon to view the games on 10 big screens, 40-year-old Mike Cenar of Chicago was busy watching four games at once.

"This room we're in right now, there would nobody in it if you couldn't bet on the games," said Cenar, who has visited Las Vegas eight straight years in March for the NCAA Tournament.

He was with a group of about 30 friends, and was asked whether his group would be in Las Vegas if betting was banned.

"No," he said. "It's a pretty quick answer."

Cenar, a college basketball player at Loyola of Chicago from 1983 to 1988, said he sees no problem with legal betting on college sports in Nevada.

"People are going to do it anyway, so you might as well have it controlled and regulated like it is here," Cenar said. "If it's not, then you open a Pandora's box, and people are sneaking around behind closed doors."

That's the message Manteris hopes gets through to lawmakers such as Osborne and McCain.

"Preserving the integrity of the games we book is of tremendous importance to us as well," Manteris said. "It is an emotional issue for those of us in this industry, although pointing fingers and name-calling is not the way to fight this battle."

Sports books would be hurt if the bill passed, but the economic crunch also would be felt in other areas of the casino, as almost all the Strip hotels are filled near capacity this week during the NCAA Tournament.

"Everyone worked together because of the impact it has on the local economy and the tourists who like to come in for the tournament," Scucci said. "During the tournament, it gets busier every year, and I don't think its popularity has plateaued."

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., questioned Osborne's motives in re-introducing the bill.

"It's just an opportunity for a former football coach to preen and strut his stuff," Berkley said.

As she has in the past, Berkley said she will counter Osborne's legislation with her own measure calling for a federal study of illegal gambling on sports.

Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, issued a statement calling Osborne's bill a cosmetic solution to a real problem.

"Statistics clearly show that up to 99 percent of all money wagered on sports in the United States is wagered illegally, with approximately 1 percent wagered legally in the state of Nevada, where you must be 21 and physically present to place a bet," Fahrenkopf said.

Reps. Jim Gibbons, and Jon Porter, both R-Nev., joined Berkley in opposing the bill.

"There is simply a fundamental difference between regulated wagering for adults in Nevada and the vast illegal sports betting over the Internet," Gibbons said in a statement.

Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Harry Reid, D-Nev., also released statements calling Osborne's bill misguided.

Review-Journal staff writer Matt Youmans contributed to this report.