NCAA falters on gambling

"A proposed ban on college sports betting would be a major financial blow to Nevada's 142 sports books," the lead of a May 1999 Las Vegas Review-Journal article said. Not to worry: Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-NV) reassured his constituents that the proposal had "as much chance of becoming law as I have of hitting a home run off of Greg Maddux."

DAN CASSALANI/NEWSMAKERS Despite growing controversy, Las Vegas will continue to be home to legal wagering on college athletics.

The man has a point. In Nevada, bettors put $2.3 billion on licensed books in 1998, half of which was wagered on amateur sports. The books won $77.4 million on sports, with college bets bringing in 33 percent of the revenue. Nationally, the NCAA men's basketball tournament is the biggest gambling event in the United States, with the exception of the Super Bowl, on which the FBI estimates $2.5 billion is wagered. Who in his right mind would want to get rid of one of the most lucrative business operations in history?

The NCAA does. The same venerable organization that lists Sudafed as an illegal substance is waging a holy war against gambling on collegiate athletics. The NCAA claims that betting on college sports encourages point-shaving, game-throwing, and illegal bookkeeping. But can we really let something like un-sportsmanlike conduct stop a $1.15 billion industry?

Apparently not. Nevada's State Gambling Commission lifted a ban on college betting last week, but did institute a $3,000 reporting threshold and asked casinos to alert authorities to any suspicious activities. Chairman Brian Sandoval assured the Associated Press that these minimal concessions "have not been developed to appease the NCAA." The real issue is to gain "better control over college sports betting in Nevada." Whew—at least they weren't concerned with ensuring fair athletic competition, which incidentally is getting harder and harder to find on college campuses these days: the FBI reports that 72 percent of college athletes (80 percent of them male) gambled in some way, and 45 percent of them gambled on college sports. Out of those, five percent provided insider information on a game, bet on a game in which they participated, or played poorly to influence the outcome of an athletic event.

The link between gambling and throwing a game can be contested, even if its only by the same people who lifted the ban. After all, why would athletes—the mental and physical elite held up as a national standard by our adoring society—want to sacrifice their careers, betray their teammates, fans, and schools, and lose their self respect all for some dirty cash from a shady campus bookie? And how would they do it?

If they play for a college team, they might agree to a point-shaving scheme, in which a player deliberately keeps his team's point total down by missing baskets or committing turnovers, thus controlling the score enough to stay under the point spread. That allows the bookie to win with a bet on the underdogs and roll over a share of the profit to the aforementioned athlete. For many scholarship athletes who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and are prohibited by NCAA rules from holding a job, the temptation is too great. Intentionally or inadvertently, they could provide information about their team to a bettor, like Rutgers basketball starter Jeff Greer '98 did. Acquaintances kept asking about his healing ankle, his shooting slump, and his teammates. "You think he's trying to be friendly, but it could turn on you in so many different ways," Greer said.

How does a seemingly innocent exchange relate to sports betting and game-throwing? Because gambling is pervasive and addictive, and college athletes are easy targets. Because the promise of quick and easy money can override the moral qualms of financially strapped, emotionally stressed college kids who are surrounded by a gambling culture.

The NCAA, which incidentally was invited—but did not participate in—the Commission's deliberations, intends to continue its drive to pass nationwide legislation prohibiting all betting on all college sports. Education is also a priority: the agent on gambling activities sends out nifty videos, posters, and information packets to every member school with the intention of "providing a framework for discussion." And of course, the NCAA is officially opposed to legal and illegal sports wagering. "But if we're going to have legal sports betting, let's keep it in Nevada," a spokesman said. Wow. I guess the NCAA told them.

It is not completely fair to heap all the blame for the situation on the mealy-mouthed, wishy-washy NCAA: Jim Gibbons and the State Gambling Commission deserve a knee-capping, too. Gambling, legal and illegal, is the single biggest threat to the integrity of college athletics today, big bucks or not.

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