Throwing The Game

Is it possible that an industry in one state can stymie legislation sought by community leaders in the other 49?

You bet.

Not only is it possible. That's the way it works in the world of campaign contributions. Gambling on college sports is a case study of how Big Money runs Washington.

Eight years ago, at the urging of worried coaches and university presidents, Congress outlawed betting on collegiate sports in every state except Nevada.

Since then, the big money at stake has become a bad influence on campus, riddling college sports with such corruption as game rigging and point shaving. Dozens of athletes have been convicted or suspended. When you follow the money in these cases, it leads to one place: Nevada. That's because student athletes profit from legal bets placed in Las Vegas and Reno casinos, and, far more significantly, bookies in the other 49 states funnel illegal bets into those casinos to protect themselves from having to pay out on unlikely winners at high odds.

There has been an outcry from universities and even some alarmed members of Congress. But the 1992 law still holds, and gambling on college games is thriving as never before in Nevada. Legislation meant to deal with that problem, favored by a congressional majority, remains buried on Capitol Hill.

What gives?

Nevada gives, that's what. In particular, the gaming industry gives to Congress--and gives and gives, in the form of contributions to both political parties totaling more than $16 million over the past six years. That's four times as much money as the gaming industry sent to Washington in the previous six years. And it's enough, apparently, to persuade congressional leaders to band together to stop (so far) a proposed bill that would end the Nevada exemption from even reaching the floor of either the House or the Senate. If there is an object lesson here, it is this: Money talks in Washington, and it talks loud enough to drown out supporters of the most well-meaning legislation, no matter how large their numbers, no matter how influential they might seem to be. It's almost as if the gamblers are keeping prominent lawmakers of both parties on retainer.

And a lucrative retainer it is. In November 1997, Trent Lott, the Mississippi Republican and Senate majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senator from Kentucky who believes unlimited campaign cash is a free-speech right, flew to Las Vegas aboard the jet of casino impresario Steve Wynn to attend a gaming industry G.O.P. fund raiser. The Republicans left with $100,000--the start of something big. Within a year, additional casino contributions would boost that sum to nearly $1 million.

In May 1999, Richard Gephardt, the Democratic Congressman from Missouri and House minority leader, and his colleague Charles Rangel, New York Democrat, flew to Las Vegas to pick up a check from Wynn in the amount of $250,000. The money went to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And this week Gephardt and Rangel plan to return for yet another fund raiser, where they hope to raise $500,000.

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