| Four states had legal sports betting on their books in | | | | have been intermittent gambling scandals, particularly in |
| 1992 when the federal government banned states | | | | college basketball, since about 1950, there has been no |
| from the bookmaking business, and grandfathered in | | | | increase in known point shaving scandals even as the |
| existing legal sports gambling in Nevada, Montana, | | | | money wagered has grown exponentially in the last |
| Oregon, and Delaware. | | | | decade. |
| Of those states, Nevada has a thriving sports book | | | | The last dustup occurred in the early 1990s and |
| business while the other three had various forms of | | | | involved North Carolina State player Charles |
| lottery games that involved sports. In May, Delaware | | | | Shackleford, who is African American. ABC News |
| attempted to join Nevada and get a piece of the | | | | reported that during the 1987-88 season as many as |
| estimated $400 billion that is wagered annually, legally | | | | four N.C. State players, including forward Shackleford, |
| and illegally, on professional and college sports. That | | | | conspired to hold down the scores of four games in |
| attempt was thwarted in August when a federal | | | | return for cash payments from a New Jersey |
| appeals court in Philadelphia ruled that sports betting in | | | | contractor. According to the report, one of the games |
| the First State would violate the 1992 federal ban. | | | | was March 6, 1988, against Wake Forest. N.C. State |
| The crux of the appeals court ruling was that | | | | defeated Wake Forest by four points, after being |
| Delaware's 1976 failed sports lottery did not constitute | | | | favored by 16. According to Shackleford's lawyer and |
| enough of a precedent to allow the grandfather clause | | | | agent, Sal DiFazio, Shackleford never shaved points, |
| of the 1992 law to apply. So, at least for now, legal | | | | although he admitted taking $65,000 from two men. |
| sports betting in the United States will not grow outside | | | | Shackelford said the money was a loan. |
| Nevada sports books and various forms of horse and | | | | The notoriety did not affect Shackleford's pro |
| dog racing. | | | | prospects. He played six NBA seasons with the Nets, |
| The implications of widespread sports gambling for the | | | | 76ers, Timberwolves and Hornets; plus several |
| African American community are worth discussing. | | | | seasons in Europe. Would an NBA team employ a |
| Though the Super Bowl is the most wagered sports | | | | non-star if the team believed it could not trust him to |
| event with $10 billion estimated to change hands, the | | | | play honestly? |
| NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is thought to be | | | | Jeff, an executive recruiter in Southern California, has |
| second, with an estimated $6 to $7 billion wagered | | | | played fantasy football and baseball for years and is |
| legally and illegally. | | | | fluent in the language of point spreads. His point of |
| While Super Bowl players are in many cases | | | | view is pragmatic and optimistic. "Admittedly, |
| millionaires earning hundreds of thousands of dollars for | | | | legalization of gambling will make it much more |
| their playoff runs, NCAA Men's Basketball players are | | | | accessible, but the solution does not lie in controlling |
| unsalaried, often without family money, and in some | | | | access. The specter of expanded gambling is an ideal |
| eyes ripe for the taking by gamblers. About three out | | | | example of one of our greatest challenges (and |
| of four are African American. Are college basketball | | | | opportunities) as a society - we need to emphasize |
| players in particular apt to be influenced by gamblers, | | | | the importance of ethical behavior in all aspects of our |
| and are college athletes in general at greater risk due | | | | lives and our activities, and we need to be able to look |
| to the fact that the payoff for playing college sports is | | | | to our sporting heroes as the example to follow." |
| vastly different than the payoff a pro athlete receives | | | | The bottom line: gambling is a fact of life in American |
| from his sport? | | | | society and sports whether legal or illegal. Unpaid, less |
| Mitch, 52, a regular visitor to Las Vegas sports books | | | | wealthy, often African American; athletes, in college |
| during March Madness who played guard for U.C. | | | | may be at greater risk, but with a vast majority of |
| Irvine's basketball team in the 1970s, doesn't think so. "I | | | | games on television, they are also watched more |
| personally believe it is very difficult for an individual in a | | | | closely than ever. Legal sports gambling is merely a |
| team sport to execute a point shaving scam. While it is | | | | vehicle for states to get a cut during difficult financial |
| possible, I do not think the risk warrants future | | | | times. The risk of players shaving points or throwing |
| regulation of legal sports betting." | | | | games is no greater or less, regardless of whether the |
| The facts would seem to bear Mitch out. While there | | | | action is taxed or part of a black market economy. |