The Washington Post

Dear Editor:

Your May 14 editorial “Amateur Sports: A Bad Bet” ignores reality and fails to show how a bill that would ban legal college sports wagering in Nevada would make any difference in addressing the widespread illegal gambling occurring on college campuses and elsewhere in this country.

This proposal contradicts recommendations from law enforcement, problem gambling treatment providers, sports analysts and others. As George Will said in his March 12, 2000, column in your newspaper, “… Congress now is contemplating a measure that sets some sort of indoor record for missing the point.”  ESPN’s Dick Vitale said: “(Illegal) bookmakers are going to prevail bigger than ever.” Not only does this proposal contradict these experts, it even goes against the NCAA’s own recommendations to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.

Expert witnesses testified at last month’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing that banning legal college sports wagering in Nevada would remove the only oversight currently in place to ensure the games’ integrity, which is in the financial best interest of Nevada sports books. As a result of their testimony, the bill nearly failed to make it out of committee, passing only by virtue of a tie vote - hardly evidence of the widespread bipartisan support you claim.

And far from creating a loophole - an unintended consequence - the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) expressly permitted Nevada to continue offering state-regulated sports wagering in deference to the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which for more than 200 years has allowed states to determine their own gambling policies.

If we are serious about this problem, we must look at how to address the real issues, such as illegal, offshore Internet gambling and illegal bookies on campus and off, which are easily accessible to students on campus, instead of misguided legislative attempts aimed solely at Nevada, where you must be physically present and 21 years old to place a bet.

Blaming the relatively small amount of all college sports wagering that occurs in Nevada, where it is licensed, regulated and taxed, ignores the true corrupting influences existing in college sports today. You need only look to the NCAA’s $6 billion television contract, million-dollar coaching contracts and sneaker deals, and low graduation rates to see evidence that the last thing these games are about is amateurism.

Sincerely,

Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
President and CEO, American Gaming Association