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Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:14 pm EDT
By Eamonn Brennan
Ooh, the NCAA vs. Delaware issue just keeps getting better. A few weeks ago, Delaware state majority leader Peter Schwartzkopf got all Chris Farley on the NCAA's objection to a legalized single-game gambling motion currently making its way through the Delaware legislative sausage machine. Delaware wants to tax gambling and make money on it; the NCAA claims legalizing such chicanery would "would irreparably harm professional and amateur sports."
Schwartzkopf excoriated the NCAA for hypocrisy, calling it a "for-profit sports league" that sponsored the Las Vegas bowl last year, where players stayed in casinos. Frankly, the NCAA got pwned.
But the big leviathan isn't going down without a fight. This weekend the NCAA announced that it would prevent any state that legalizes single-game gambling from hosting "any session of an NCAA championship," meaning any Final Four or BCS Bowl and maybe any tournament in general, even the non-money-making olympic sports.
This would affect Delaware most acutely as it relates to college basketball; no Final Four sessions means a loss of a week or two or revenue once every few years. At the very least, it closes a door.
Still, if there's one state that seems to stand more from allowing gambling and reaping its benefits -- and losing the one-time NCAA regional money in the process -- it's Delaware. There are no BCS bowls at stake here. The Final Four itself wasn't landing in Wilmington any time soon. If Delaware's legislators are to be believed, the state can make upwards of $50 million a year from gambling tax revenues. That's much more than any tournament event can generate, at least as it relates to local revenue. Heck, the numbers on just how much event spending really helps cities are fuzzy anyway.
In a way, the NCAA's gesture is nothing more than symbolic, and it sort of feels like when a friend is sure he invented a truly cutting argumentative rejoinder only to have it fall flat. This'll show you! Ha! ... Ha? Meanwhile, Delaware will laugh all the way to the bank.
NCAA enters vicious death match with the fine state of Delaware - The Dagge... - NCAA Hoops - Rivals.com
By Eamonn Brennan
Ooh, the NCAA vs. Delaware issue just keeps getting better. A few weeks ago, Delaware state majority leader Peter Schwartzkopf got all Chris Farley on the NCAA's objection to a legalized single-game gambling motion currently making its way through the Delaware legislative sausage machine. Delaware wants to tax gambling and make money on it; the NCAA claims legalizing such chicanery would "would irreparably harm professional and amateur sports."
Schwartzkopf excoriated the NCAA for hypocrisy, calling it a "for-profit sports league" that sponsored the Las Vegas bowl last year, where players stayed in casinos. Frankly, the NCAA got pwned.
But the big leviathan isn't going down without a fight. This weekend the NCAA announced that it would prevent any state that legalizes single-game gambling from hosting "any session of an NCAA championship," meaning any Final Four or BCS Bowl and maybe any tournament in general, even the non-money-making olympic sports.
This would affect Delaware most acutely as it relates to college basketball; no Final Four sessions means a loss of a week or two or revenue once every few years. At the very least, it closes a door.
Still, if there's one state that seems to stand more from allowing gambling and reaping its benefits -- and losing the one-time NCAA regional money in the process -- it's Delaware. There are no BCS bowls at stake here. The Final Four itself wasn't landing in Wilmington any time soon. If Delaware's legislators are to be believed, the state can make upwards of $50 million a year from gambling tax revenues. That's much more than any tournament event can generate, at least as it relates to local revenue. Heck, the numbers on just how much event spending really helps cities are fuzzy anyway.
In a way, the NCAA's gesture is nothing more than symbolic, and it sort of feels like when a friend is sure he invented a truly cutting argumentative rejoinder only to have it fall flat. This'll show you! Ha! ... Ha? Meanwhile, Delaware will laugh all the way to the bank.
NCAA enters vicious death match with the fine state of Delaware - The Dagge... - NCAA Hoops - Rivals.com
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