EDITORIAL: NCAA finally sees light on Las Vegas
The cliche states, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." However, it appears the NCAA is finally thirsty enough to consider sipping from the money well that is Las Vegas.
As Review-Journal sports editor Bill Bradley wrote earlier this month, NCAA President Mark Emmert said his organization is ready to rethink its ban on postseason events in Las Vegas. To which we say, hallelujah, while asking: What took so long? All it takes is one look at the first couple of weeks of March to see just how foolish and outdated this policy has become.
Las Vegas hosts four conference basketball tournaments each year, for the Mountain West Conference (Thomas & Mack Center), the Pac-12 Conference (MGM Grand Garden), the West Coast Conference and the Western Athletic Conference (both at the Orleans Arena). Fans from these conferences flood the city, can legally bet on every single game in those tournaments, if they wish, and each tournament's winner goes to, wait for it ... the NCAA Tournament.
On top of that, the city has hosted the Las Vegas Bowl since 1992, and there are two schools in the state — UNLV and UNR — that are eligible to compete for NCAA championships. So this is really a move in the right direction for the NCAA. If you think the atmosphere for conference tournaments is great, imagine if we had an NCAA men's basketball regional at the MGM's soon-to-be-opened new arena?
And there are a multitude of other possibilities — anything that can be held in an arena. NCAA volleyball championships, hockey's Frozen Four or the Final Four in women's basketball. Or an even larger-scale idea that Mr. Bradley cited from a Washington Post article: hosting the final four rounds of the women's NCAA Tournament, played over the course of a week — along the lines of the College World Series in baseball and softball. The Post's Dan Steinberg reported that Debbie Antonelli, a longtime women's basketball analyst and former Division I player and administrator, pitched the unique idea last spring.
It appears the NCAA is finally beginning to understand that sports betting isn't going anywhere, regardless of the organization's stance, and that regulated betting in Nevada is far better than the underground alternative. Perhaps it was new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that got the NCAA to consider a more reasoned and realistic policy. Since becoming commissioner in February 2014, Mr. Silver has advocated for broader legal sports betting, and as ESPN.com's David Purdum reported, Mr. Silver reiterated his stance last week on FiveThirtyEight's Takedown podcast.
"One of the reasons I've been pushing to legalize sports betting is not because I'm necessarily an advocate of sports betting, it's because all the research shows that it's a multi-hundred-billion-dollar business just in the United States right now," Mr. Silver said. "In terms of the integrity of the sports leagues, it's only bad news for us when it continues to remain underground."
Indeed, underground sports betting in the United States dwarfs legal sports betting many times over. Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans reported in August that Nevada's 2014 total handle was $3.9 billion, but that $150 billion to as much as $400 billion is annually bet illegally through bookmakers, offshore books and pools.
All that just furthers the argument that the NCAA, the NFL and other sports organizations have an antiquated view of sports betting — a view that, the longer it's held and enforced as policy, will continue to drive up underground betting numbers. Mr. Silver absolutely has the right idea on this.
Las Vegas provides a fantastic atmosphere for a multitude of sporting events — and perhaps soon will have an NHL team — under the umbrella of licensed, regulated sports betting. CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd reported that Mr. Emmert said there will be a "robust conversation" about placing championship events here. It's about time, and it should absolutely happen. Take a big drink, Mr. Emmert. Your cup will runneth over.
