By Tony Batt
lasvegas.com Gaming Wire
WASHINGTON -- Student newspapers at all 65 universities that qualified for this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament either take or would publish advertising for Internet gambling, the American Gaming Association said Thursday.
The finding comes from an informal poll solicited by the AGA. National Media, a firm in Alexandria, Va., conducted the poll from March 19 through March 26 after being hired by an AGA consultant, said AGA spokeswoman Naomi Greer.
AGA president Frank Fahrenkopf issued a news release saying the poll results show the hypocrisy of the NCAA's efforts to outlaw betting in Nevada on college sports.
"The universities themselves are promoting the very activity that the NCAA claims to be concerned about," Fahrenkopf said. "Not only are these schools promoting illegal gambling, they are also profiting from it."
Efforts to reach the NCAA for comment were not successful.
AGA and the Nevada congressional delegation are offering alternative legislation that, among other things, would require NCAA member schools to establish gambling prevention programs for students instead of a betting ban.
In addition to the 65 tournament schools, the 11 universities represented on the NCAA's board of directors also would run ads for Internet gambling, the AGA said.
National Media conducted the poll by phoning the newspapers' advertising departments and asking if they would sell advertising space for Internet gambling sites. None would have refused and all quoted the cost of running the ads, according to AGA.