Pro Leagues Play with Vegas After All

If you believe Oscar Goodman, the former mob lawyer turned Mayor of Las Vegas, there is no better city on the planet to serve as the next expansion location or relocation site for a wayward franchise of the NBA or the NHL. However, every time he makes that argument to the league brass, he runs into David Stern telling him that no team will come to Vegas as long as the sportsbooks take bets on NBA games.

Now, a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal, confirms for all of us just how hypocritical Stern and Bud Selig, who has said much the same thing, have been about this. The open secret that the leagues (and the NFL and NHL) have long been cooperating with the sportsbooks to keep track of discrepancies in the lines that might signal that games have been tampered with has been confirmed by the Journal. In fact, the leagues all have contracts with Las Vegas Sports Consultants the firm which claims to set the line for 90% of the books in Vegas and who knows how many of the books in the Caribbean.

The biggest hypocrite of all, however, is Myles Brand and the NCAA. For decades the NCAA has lobbied intensely against sports gambling in every form and fashion, and has done more to prevent the proliferation of legalized sports gambling in this country than any single other entity. Yet, there they are feeding at the trough of LVSC, looking for the same edge on their games as every other gambler. Of course, they want to ensure the integrity of the game while the gamblers all just want to lay a little action but the NCAA won't even admit to a relationship for fear it might sully their image. Please.