NCAA not trying to 'take on' gambling in Vegas

The NCAA has no intention of putting Nevada sports book employees out of work, nor does the governing body of college athletics believe it can keep the state's legal sports books from accepting bets on its events.

But that doesn't mean it likes that gambling on NCAA sports likely will continue, despite a recommendation by the National Gambling Impact Study Commission that the Silver State cease allowing wagers on college sporting events.

Though it is just one of several recommendations which the commission will make to congress in its report next month, abolishing legalized betting on college sports has been a hot topic in Nevada this week. It has prompted editorials in newspapers, fiery rhetoric from state politicians and casino executives and lively discussion on sports talk shows.

The heightened awareness on the subject brings a smile to Bill Saum's face.

Saum, the NCAA point man when it comes to gambling, testified twice before the commission that the NCAA does not condone any form of gambling on its sports.

"We're appreciative they visited the topic and we support their position," Saum said. "The NCAA opposes all forms of legal and illegal gambling on its events.

"At the same time, the NCAA believes it's not our duty to change values. We've never asked Nevada to cease booking college sports. That's not our domain."

NCAA president Cedric Dempsey has similar feelings.

"For several years, the NCAA has officially stated that it opposes all forms of legal and illegal sports wagering," Dempsey said in a statement. "Though the Association does not actively campaign against the gaming industry, we commend the Commission for its recommendation and for recognizing that sports wagering is a major issue in our society.

"Opening the discussion about sports wagering on college athletics enables the NCAA to move forward with its goal of educating student-athletes, campuses and others about the ills of sports gambling."

Saum said the NCAA has a relationship with Las Vegas that not many outside of the gaming industry are aware of.

"It's an odd marriage between Las Vegas and the NCAA," he said. "We both want the same thing -- that the results be square.

"Of course, we have different reasons. The NCAA doesn't want anything that would alter the outcome while the sports books don't want anything to happen that would allow them to get beat up on the money side.

"I would suggest we have a wonderful relationship with the sports books up and down the Strip. I talk to a lot of people like Roxy Roxborough (president of Las Vegas Sports Consultants) and I have great respect for what he does and the many sports book directors.

"There's no way the NCAA takes on Las Vegas. That's never been the objective."

Still, the NCAA has no problem having a federal commission take up the fight for it. Saum said the commission's recommendation came without undue pressure from the NCAA.

"We didn't lobby the commission," he said. "Nor did we even talk about barring (NCAA) sports wagering in Las Vegas. This is a conclusion they reached on their own."

Recent gambling scandals at Arizona State and Northwestern that created widespread media attention probably had a lot to do with the recommendation. As a result, Saum said there is a heightened awareness to gambling on college sports.

"Our goal is to educate and raise awareness in our students so that they'll make intelligent decisions," he said.

Saum's concern isn't so much the legal betting in Nevada, but the illegal wagering, especially via off-shore accounts and on the Internet. Because the majority of college students are computer literate and at least one-third to one-half of the student population nationally has access to at least one credit card, betting on sports is as easy as pointing and clicking.

"I call it 'closet gambling,' " Saum said. "No group has more access to computers than college students.

"What they don't realize is it's illegal. And no one's regulating it."

The NCAA has thrown its support behind the bill authored by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) that would ban Internet gambling.

Saum said in the NCAA's perfect world, Nevada would not book college games and newspapers across America wouldn't publish betting lines or accept advertisements from tout services. However, he's enough of a realist to know that's not likely to happen.

The NCAA did some saber rattling a couple of years ago when it threatened to not credential reporters at the Final Four representing newspapers that published betting lines or ran ads from sports services. But the NCAA backed off.

Still, Saum said he'd like to see the papers outside Nevada refrain from running the lines. In his opinion, those papers are providing information for an illegal activity.

But Nevada doesn't go completely unscathed when it comes to doing business with the NCAA. There's a provision that precludes metropolitan areas that have legalized sports betting from bidding to host any segment of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Las Vegas would be a natural to host a sub-regional or regional with its multitude of hotels, restaurants, entertainment and a quality basketball facility in the Thomas & Mack Center.

"I don't see that changing," Saum said. "In fact, I see it expanding to women's basketball. But it's not personal against Las Vegas. It's more philosophical. That's why you don't see the tournament in Oregon, Delaware, Montana or Wyoming. Those states also have some form of legal sports gambling."

So was the commission's recommendation a victory for the NCAA?

"We're not keeping score," Saum said. "But I think Cedric Dempsey has it right on when he says we have a problem and we need to fix it.

"We're going to continue to work with Nevada regardless of what happens," Saum added. "They've been a tremendous source of information and they've helped educate me."

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