Experts warn of spread of illegal gambling

The overwhelming consensus around town is that a ban on college sports wagering, as recommended by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, would increase illegal bookmaking.

This view comes not only from casino sports books but from the halls of academia. James Frey, dean of the UNLV College of Liberal Arts and author of gambling studies, said Tuesday that "there's a whole raft of illegal gambling going on anyway."

"Any community where they have college teams they have gambling going on," Frey said. "The fact they would ban gambling on college sports in Nevada wouldn't insulate gamblers from the temptation of gambling."

Frey said he believes the commission, which made its recommendation Monday, targeted college sports from the viewpoint that it is "still a game, not a business." College sports, in fact, is big business with lucrative television contracts, highly paid coaches and fierce recruitment of athletes.

"There's a feeling that it's a game of young men and women seeking cultural enhancement," he said. "It's sort of a cultural celebration, with cheerleaders and all that kind of stuff. We're just not ready to let that go."

In a study of college coaches, Frey said he found that they were aware of publicized point spreads but that there was no proof they made player substitutions or controlled the flow of play accordingly.

He also said it would be difficult to ban newspapers and sports talk shows from publicizing point spreads.

"The newspapers treat it as news that attracts readership," Frey said. "There's also a freedom of speech issue that comes into play that would make it difficult to keep these talk shows off the air."

Nevada sports books accepted $2.3 billion in wagers last year and won $77.4 million, a minute percentage of the state's overall gaming activity. But sports book directors conceded that a ban on college wagering would have a devastating impact on their operations.

Joe Lupo, sports book director at the Stardust hotel-casino, estimated that college sports make up at least 30 percent of all sports wagers in Nevada. Among college sports, football and basketball are by far the ones that attract the most action. The annual 64-team college basketball tournament in March is such a special event with bettors that Lupo said Las Vegas is the second most popular place to view the games other than being at the contests in person.

Lupo estimated that college football games attract 30 to 40 percent of all football wagers, and that college basketball generates nearly as much action as the NBA. If such wagers were banned in Nevada, he predicted those bets simply would be funnelled to illegal bookmakers, including offshore operators such as in the Caribbean.

"So you're making the illegal books bigger," he said. "It takes away Nevada's role as a watchdog. You'd think you'd want a regulated industry to watch over this betting."

A similar view was expressed by Muggsy Muniz, race book director for Coast Resorts. He called the commission's recommendation "ridiculous."

"All it will do is enhance the problem," he said. "All your illegal bookmakers will show up and your handle will go up from coast to coast. I don't see how they plan to stop this in the islands. As far as the (legal) sports book industry is concerned it would be devastating.

"If they got rid of college betting, how are they going to regulate it? You'd still have bookmakers on every campus."

At Arizona Charlie's hotel-casino, race and sports book director Mary Sapp had one word of advice for the commission.

"Reconsider," she said. "They're never going to eliminate the underground bookies so they might as well let the betting remain legal."

Sapp also estimated that about one-third of the sports wagers are for college games.

"They might as well clear the sports books," she said. "They're really cutting into the cake."

Mirage Resorts spokesman Alan Feldman applauded the commission for urging the NCAA, college sports' regulatory body, to increase its involvement in gambling-related issues. But he said it was unfortunate that the commission still "misunderstands" the proper oversight of sports gambling.

"It's a convenience for our guests, and they seem to enjoy it in a highly regulated environment," Feldman said.

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