Our View: College betting already is illegal

Excuse us if we're a little confused. We thought betting on college sports already was illegal.

Oh, that's right. It is - in every state except Nevada.

So why is Congress holding hearings on a bill by representatives from South Carolina and Indiana to ban betting on amateur athletic events?

The answer seems fairly obvious: Congress feels powerless to do anything about the rampant illegal wagering going on around the country.

This is "feel-good" legislation. Politicians of all stripes - and that includes some coaches at major colleges - get a chance to stand up and rail against an evil of society without addressing the real problem.

That's why they didn't want to hear from Nevada's senators, Richard Bryan and Harry Reid, although Reps. Jim Gibbons and Shelley Berkley did a fine job of pointing out the futility of the proposed legislation.

Eliminating legal bets in Nevada, Berkley said, won't solve the problem any more than "outlawing aspirin would stop the sale of illegal drugs."

Statistics give a clue to the scope of the problem outside of Nevada. Illegal sports gambling has been estimated at $80 billion to $380 billion a year (a spread that shows nobody really knows how much takes place).

In contrast, all gambling in Nevada added up to $15.9 billion in 1999.

The danger of "feel good" legislation is that politicians may actually believe they must take some action in order to back up their rhetoric. If they do, unfortunately they will accomplish nothing to deter illegal amateur-sports betting and do everything to kill a legitimate business in Nevada.