Anti-Betting Bill Introduced

Sen. John McCain introduced legislation Thursday that would ban betting on college sports in Nevada.

McCain plans to hold a hearing on the NCAA-backed bill in his Commerce Committee on April 26.

Pia Pialorsi, McCain’s spokeswoman on the Commerce Committee, said the Republican senator from Arizona was eager to “renew his effort to clean up amateur sports” across the country.

Sen. Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the “ill-advised and ill-conceived” bill if passed would allow illegal gambling to flourish.

“Although my colleague John McCain may be well-intentioned, this bill is really just a fig leaf to cover the problems the NCAA has with illegal gambling on college campuses,” Reid said from Washington.

The NCAA contends that the dollars bet in Nevada sports books put undue influence on young athletes to “shave points” or change the outcome of games.

The Nevada delegation last month introduced its own measure, which would create a task force to crack down on illegal betting and put more pressure on the NCAA to attack the problem on its college campuses.

“In introducing his bill, Sen. McCain erroneously implies that federal legislation is needed to ban wagering on Olympic and high school sports,” said Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association. “In fact, such wagering is already illegal in all 50 states, including Nevada.”