The New York Times
May 15, 2000
Mr. Tom Feyer
Letters Editor
The New York Times
229 W. 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Dear Mr. Feyer:
There could be no more predictable crusader to ban legal college sports wagering than James Dobson (op-ed, May 5). Dr. Dobson’s religious bias against gambling blinds him to the following facts:
- There is a fundamental difference between Nevada’s public sports books - where one must be 21 and physically present - and rampant illegal, unregulated sports betting.
- Legal sports wagering represents only about 1 percent of all sports betting nationwide. The “Nevada ban” Dobson endorsed does nothing to address the 99 percent of sports betting that is illegal.
- Of the thousands of games played during the 1990s, there were only a handful of point-shaving scandals, all of which centered on illegal betting. In fact, more point-shaving scandals occurred in the 1950s and 1960s - well before modern sports books existed in Nevada - than in the 1990s.
Congress should look at the facts before it rushes to unfairly punish a legal, highly regulated business, its customers and its employees, while absolving the NCAA for a problem that flourishes on its own campuses.
Sincerely,
Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
President and CEO
American Gaming Association
