The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has been listening to rhetoric on a major scale, as the NCAA and Nevada gaming interests testify as to why a proposed ban on college sports betting should or should not be passed.
Yesterday, in 9,672 words, Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, told the Senate that, "should the NCAA prevail in their crusade against legal sports wagering, there will be millions of disappointed customers and many displaced employees in Nevada, but Nevada will survive."
Meanwhile, the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey Inc. says the NCAA's anti-gambling campaign is tainted. Executive Director Ed Looney said that promotional campaigns by advertisers during NCAA games are part of the gambling problem. "We are encouraging our children to ante up their piggy banks to buy more Pepsi (R) than they really need, to try to win NCAA Final Four shirts and hats," Looney explained.
"If the NCAA wants to have integrity in their anti-gambling campaign on college campuses, they need to rethink their involvement in these gambling-type contests that may hook young people in to gambling," added deputy director Kevin O'Neill," and instead concentrate on prevention and education efforts on compulsive gambling awareness."