sports betting

The American Gaming Association (AGA) and its member companies strongly support meaningful efforts to eliminate illegal sports gambling on college campuses. The legislation introduced today, however, has much to do with appearances and absolutely nothing to do with addressing the very real problem of illegal student gambling. While well intentioned, the bill amounts to an ineffective band-aid on a campus cancer.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA), testified today before the Senate Commerce Committee against a bill that would ban Nevada’s legal sports wagering on college athletics.

In his testimony, Fahrenkopf attacked the NCAA and its supporters for the myths they have perpetuated to advance their case and for their failure to give U.S. Sen. John McCain and his committee “straight talk” on this issue.

On the myth that Nevada’s sports books are an integral part of the problem:

Today’s vote in the Senate Commerce Committee exposed the NCAA’s bill for what it is: an empty symbol in the face of a serious national problem, that of illegal gambling on college campuses. U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan (D-Nev.) is to be commended for his principled defense of Nevada and for exposing the hypocrisy of the NCAA.

Sens. Bryan and John Breaux (D-La.) offered their colleagues not one, but a series of opportunities to deal directly with this problem comprehensively and nationwide. The committee rejected:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA), testified today before the House Judiciary Committee against a bill that would ban legal betting on college sports, saying the legislation would ‘impose the death penalty on Nevada’s sports books’ without any proof of a link between them and the widespread illegal gambling occurring on college campuses and in other states nationwide.

Today’s contentious markup of the NCAA betting legislation proves that this ill-conceived bill is not ready for prime time. The extended debate and divided committee votes show that there is significant disagreement about how best to proceed this year. There’s clearly a growing sense that this bill lacks the support its sponsors claimed. As we have been saying all along, when people started focusing on the facts, they would recognize this bill for what it is: a cosmetic response to serious campus gambling problems.

Washington, D.C.—Despite the NCAA’s insistence that it is trying to stamp out illegal gambling on college campuses, the student newspapers of all 65 universities that qualified for the NCAA basketball tournament either take or would run advertising for Internet gambling sites, according to an informal poll released today by the American Gaming Association (AGA).

Washington, D.C. - “Billions of dollars have been wagered, almost all of it illegally, on the NCAA tournament that winds up with the championship game tonight, while the NCAA imitates Nero and fiddles around promoting legislation that would do more harm than good,” said Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA).

It’s no surprise that Sens. McCain and Brownback have yet again introduced a bill that would ban legal college sports wagering in Nevada. This misguided approach absolves the NCAA of any responsibility to clean its own house. The more that members of Congress learn about the facts, the more they recognize that the real solution is to directly address the widespread illegal gambling occurring on college campuses.

While we are disappointed in the final outcome of today’s mark-up of S. 718, which resulted in the bill’s passage with amendments, the tie vote on Sen. Ensign’s amendment that would have essentially defeated this bill demonstrated that a measure to ban legal college sports wagering in Nevada is hardly the “slam dunk” the NCAA and its supporters have claimed. As was shown in the votes from last year to this year, the more members have learned about this issue, the less likely they have been to support this cosmetic approach.

“We all know the NCAA, which holds great sway over college sports programs, can bring active coaches to Washington to parrot their line. But the facts remain the same: no matter how many stunts they pull, this legislation is seriously flawed.