Bill banning NCAA sports gambling to reach Congress

A bill that would ban gambling on collegiate athletics is expected to come before Congress during the upcoming session. The measure would outlaw gambling on amateur and college athletics in all states, including the four remaining states where such action is legal. Supporters of the bill, including co-sponsor Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Tenn., feel it will help cut down the amount of gambling on National Collegiate Athletic Association sports on college campuses. However, opponents argue that little is being done to counter the problem on a grassroots level. I think it's stupid legislation that will make the problem worse, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., president of the American Gaming Association told The Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this month. You've got to have a nexus between the problem you're trying to deal with and the piece of legislation. There's no nexus here. Members of the NCAA agree, noting that the bill won't solve problems of games being fixed and betting on campus. Gambling industry executives point out that even without a ban, few illegal bookmakers place bets or lay off for clients in Las Vegas. If there was a large-scale laying-off of illegal betting activity in Nevada, the numbers would be a lot bigger than they are, Fahrenkopf said. But just the threat of legislation has led the Nevada Gaming Commission to recommend that the industry limit bets to $550 on college sporting events and forbid wagers on high school and Olympic sports. However, some in Washington say the sanctions are only an attempt to curtail serious reform. I think it's the gambling industry admitting that this bill is going to become law and trying to make some sort of compromise to forestall the bill from going through Congress, said the bill's other sponsor, Rep. Timothy J. Roemer, D-Ind. The resolution, which was originally introduced in the 106th Congress, was passed by the Judiciary Committee with an encouraging margin, but was delayed by a Nevada filibuster in the Senate until the end of the term. However, Roemer said the measure will be reintroduced and should pass the House during this term. We intend to pass the bill in the next session, Roemer said. If it gets to the floor it will pass in a bipartisan way.