Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 11:30 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- If some pro sports organizations and critics of betting on college sports get their way, gamblers at Las Vegas sports books may be left with little more than tic-tac-toe tournaments to wager on.
That is, unless the National Tic-Tac-Toe Association also asks to join in on Sen. John McCain's bill that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada sports books.
The National Football League and National Basketball Association have expressed interest in being considered in that bill.
A report from a Washington D.C. newsletter Roll Call says Major League Baseball has talked to another U.S. senator about the issue, but an employee in MLB spokesman Pat Courtney's office said today there are no plans to become part of the McCain action.
Attempts to reach a spokesman for the National Hockey League were not successful.
NFL Executive Vice President Jeffrey Pash wrote an April 10 letter to McCain, asking the Commerce Committee chairman that professional sports be tacked on to his bill.
"Congress has not previously distinguished between gambling on amateur and professional games, and Congress should not do so now," Pash wrote.
NBA spokesman Brian McIntyre said that in 1992 his organization fought gambling on a similar bill "and our position is the same."
The NBA also sent a letter to McCain Wednesday, signed by Richard W. Buchanan, NBA vice president and general counsel.
"The National Basketball Association has long advocated the elimination of sports gambling.
"Simply put, the harms inflicted by sports gambling are equally severe whether bets are placed on amateur or professional sports. If Congress is to act in this area again, the NBA strongly urges that the federal prohibition against sports gambling be applied uniformly to all sports and extended to all jurisdictions."
But McCain had no appetite to consider the requests today as his committee voted to send the bill to the full Senate without adding any amendments that included language on pro sports.
"McCain doesn't feel it's necessary to add this language to his amateur sports gambling bill," Commerce Committee spokeswoman Pia Pialorsi said. "He's not doing anything with this NFL language at this time."
The NFL proposal drew heavy fire from Las Vegas sports book operators and casinos.
"I knew the NFL had no limits on hypocrisy, but I had no idea they were lobbying on behalf of illegal bookmakers," said Alan Feldman, spokesman for Mirage Resorts Inc.
"They're putting my company out of business," said Vic Salerno, president and chief executive of American Wagering Inc., which operates more than 40 sports books in Nevada casinos under the Leroy's brand name. "Who else is he putting out of business?"
Salerno estimates at least 2,000 jobs would be lost if Nevada's sports books closed, including several hundred at his company. The effects could also be felt by printers that specialize in parlay cards, and publishers that focus on sports wagering information, such as GamingToday, Salerno said.
"How many people have ruined their lives with sports wagering ... 10 to 12 over the last 10 years?" Salerno said. "You'd have many, many more people hurt with this."
The big impact would be felt during big sports events, such as March Madness and Super Bowl Sunday, said Venetian President Bill Weidner.
"Super Bowl is possibly the most profitable weekend of the year, perhaps even more than New Year's Eve," Weidner said. "It would be a very important impact on the business, not necessarily because of sheer profitability. It's another amenity, a fun form of gaming, one you can really get into."
Las Vegas casinos probably would not feel an incredible financial impact from shutting down their sports books, however. Sports wagers accounted for $96.3 million in win for Nevada's casinos in 1999, only 1 percent of the state's total casino revenues for the year. Parimutuel wagering accounted for an additional $83.4 million, but most operators believe sports books would not continue operating on races alone.
"A sports book is a nice piece of the overall product offering, and it's important, but for someone seeking an overall resort destination experience, they wouldn't cancel their trip because of it (eliminating sports books)," said David Anders, gaming analyst with Merrill Lynch. "To a certain degree, you're shifting those dollars to other casino activities."
But ultimately, the issue goes far beyond just dollars, Feldman said.
"I don't think that number is as significant as the government taking away the choice of adults who want to participate in this legal and regulated form of entertainment," Feldman said. "This is the slippery slope in a much larger sense of government intervention with adults in terms of what they choose to do in their personal lives."
Gaming's chief lobbyist in Washington said professional sports leagues have been eying the legislation for months but only moved recently because the high-profile McCain recently began leading the charge on the bill.
"The title of the bill is the Amateur Sports Integrity Act," American Gaming Association president Frank Fahrenkopf said.
"If you listen to the rhetoric of McCain and others the purpose of the bill is to protect the integrity of amateur athletics. We're seeing a change in the context here. If the bill is amended it becomes an anti-gambling bill being pushed by the anti-gambling establishment."
The full Senate now will consider the college betting ban bill. The professional sports betting ban could resurface during floor debate, although there was no immediate indication that a senator would add such an amendment.
But the possibility worries Nevada's Congressional delegation, which got word of the NFL letter Wednesday. The four members have their hands full with a counter attack on the college gambling ban.
"It starts out with the ban on college sports and gets expanded to include a ban on professional sports bets -- that's the so-called slippery slope," Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said. "This bill is a difficult one to contain."
Bryan said banning wagers on professional sports would crush casinos.
"This would sound the death knell for sports books in Nevada," Bryan said. "It would have a severe impact on the Nevada economy."
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said adding a prohibition on pro sports gambling to the bill would thrill bookies who make illegal bets.
"This doesn't do anything to prevent gambling on sports," Reid said. "All it would do is help people who do illegal gambling."
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., agreed "once you start, you can't draw the line."
"We don't need the federal government coming into Nevada and telling us what we can and can't be taking bets on," Berkley said. "It's just another attack on the state of Nevada and our primary industry."
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said he was disappointed that professional sports leagues were buying into the argument that banning bets on their sports in Nevada would prevent corruption in the sports.
Gibbons added that the Republican leadership in the House still seems to have no interest in bringing this legislation to the floor. There has been no action on the bill in the House.
"I will meet with them (Republican leaders) again," Gibbons said. "I will talk to them about this."
Another NFL vice president, Greg Aiello, said he had no reaction to the effect a professional sports betting ban would have on Nevada.
"That's not where our focus is right now," Aiello said. "Our focus is on the legislation as introduced by Sen. McCain."
Aiello explained that the NFL is making a case that Congress until now has banned betting on both amateur and professional sports in all states except Nevada -- any new betting ban on college sports in Nevada should include professional sports, too, Aiello said.
"We're saying don't leave us out," Aiello said.
Aiello said the NFL was not advocating a betting ban that expanded all the way to boxing or horse racing -- just a ban on football betting. Congress would have to draw the line, Aiello said.
Other leagues may want to be included but "We're not speaking for other sports," Aiello said.
archive
