Ban Sports Action?
The bill to abolish Sports Action lottery games - and thereby re-open the possibility of NCAA tournament games being hosted in Oregon - is stuck in the Oregon Senate... despite passing 51-0 in the House. Oregonian sports reporter Rachel Bachman has the story:
But after passing the House with a 51-0 vote, the bill is stuck in the Senate Budget Committee with "not great" chances of getting out, said Sen. Kurt Schrader, committee chair. Opponents of the bill say the state has more important things to tend to.Yet for tournament proponents, the situation is critical. If HB3466 doesn't receive enough votes to reach the Senate floor for a final vote by the session's end -- which could come in the next few weeks -- the bill and its window of opportunity will disappear.
"This will be forever lost if we don't capitalize," said Drew Mahalic, CEO of the Oregon Sports Authority. "But it will be forever won if we are successful."
Why is the opportunity limited to right now? With the introduction of video slots, there's a revenue stream that can be used to replace the lost revenue to Oregon college athletics.
Criticism is coming from two Senate Democrats:
Sen. Schrader, D-Canby, [the committee chairman] called NCAA Tournament games "temporary events that have minimal impact" and said he would vote against the bill. Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, also said he would vote no."I agree with part of the bill, in that we do need to eliminate the Sports Action lottery so that we can attract some of these collegiate events," Ringo said. "I don't think it makes sense, though, to say, 'All right, if we're going to do that, then we should dedicate a portion of our lottery to collegiate sports.' "
On the other hand:
Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, said there would be enough slots money to help fund education and replace the income athletic departments would lose if the sports lottery were banned."I think having an NCAA Tournament coming to Portland or Oregon would be a huge economic boon," Brown said. "And I just think we're crazy to turn down this opportunity."
Discuss.
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June 26, 2005
Posted in in the news 2005. |
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Jun 26, '05
Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, said there would be enough slots money to help fund education and replace the income athletic departments would lose if the sports lottery were banned.
The Oregon Sports Lottery funds intercollegiate athletics (88%) and competitive scholarships to support graduate work (12%). When the scholarship recommendations are made by individual OUS units, nobody knows how much money will actually be available. Selection committees rank students and develop scenarios--if we have $x, we can distribute $y to z students, but maybe we will get nothing at all. It's a crazy way to fund education.
Sports Lottery graduate scholarships support students who plan to stay in Oregon, working in high-need disciplines. It's a relatively small amount of money that does a lot of good. This kind of support should just be a line item in the budget.
Jun 26, '05
Just give the entire lottery business to the higher education system and let them figure out what to do with it. No more lottery for economic development, parks or any other game. Then if the higher ed system wants to ban sports action that is their business. M.
6:49 p.m.
Jun 26, '05
Killing Sports Action would be the mildest token gesture away from the shadowy, highly dubious world of legalized gambling. Given the obvious upside potential, it's a disgrace that it isn't easily passed. The bit about whether or not to dedicate money to college sports is an obvious red herring thrown out for smelling by the gullible. Something else is going on.
Could some deeply buried mob interest be holding this up? Oh no! Not in Oregon!
Jun 26, '05
I agree with Jack. It is giving up a miniscule amount of money for the potential of a very significant economic impact. As the Oregonian, I believe it was, editoralized a few weeks ago, Sports Action was put in place when Oregon's athletic departments were struggling. They're not anymore and as such its not necessary. I know I would buy a ticket if the tourney were ever at the Rose Garden or down at the proposed new arena in Eugene and if it were in Eugene I'd sure as heck travel down there as would many others I'm sure.
Jun 27, '05
Funny, having Sports Action didn't stop OSU from hosting a super regional in baseball. It doesn't generally stop Oregon from hosting the NCAAs in track and field. There's no guarantee that Portland would be a regular NCAA tourney site. So why bother giving in to the NCAA's blackmail?
So call me gullible, right Jack? Or maybe I’m a member of the mob and don’t know it. I guess those of us who disagree with you on this issue just don’t get it.
Jun 27, '05
"It is giving up a miniscule amount of money for the potential of a very significant economic impact."
I don't think this is true. The money certainly isn't miniscule to the schools. And I don't think the economic impact would be significant.
That said, I support abolishing the Sports Lottery, because I would love to watch the tournament here in Portland.
11:32 a.m.
Jun 27, '05
Actually, there is a guarantee that Oregon would be an NCAA March Madness site. They rotate the first two rounds through the states that have division I programs. Whenever it's been Oregon's turn, we get skipped.
It wouldn't necessarily be Portland - Eugene and Corvallis are also plausible sites.
(Also, the super-regional in baseball was here because - unlike basketball - they host it onsite for one of the teams. There's a home-field thing built into it.)
Jun 27, '05
The internet has taken over the betting action of serious sports gamblers. The next tier of sports gamblers all have their fantasy sports teams competing for prize pools. The lottery sports action is basically just a gimmick now, and I doubt it generates anywhere near the revenue it did at one time.
NCAA events are not that stellar in generating economic impact, but I doubt very many people would really miss the sports action game very much either. I'd like to see Oregon hosting whatever the heck they call the West region these days (Is it called the Campbell or Wales regional now?) just to put a stop to the year-in, year-out home floor advantage Utah's teams always seem to have. Poor Gonzaga deserves a chance at having at least a few fans get to drive down to see them play in the tournament once. ;-)
3:42 p.m.
Jun 27, '05
I'm confused. Is there Sports Action for NCAA basketball? I'm only familiar with the NFL game--and I'll be damned if I'd support getting rid of that. If this is the case, why not just cancel the NCAA version and leave the rest of the games intact?
3:45 p.m.
Jun 27, '05
Apologies. It does say in the article it's just NFL games. The NCAA can go to hell.
Jun 28, '05
It does say in the article it's just NFL games. The NCAA can go to hell.
Thanks, Torrid, my point exactly.
Also, the super-regional in baseball was here because - unlike basketball - they host it onsite for one of the teams. There's a home-field thing built into it.
No duh.
My point there is that Sports Action has nothing to do with the NCAA playoffs in any sport. It's the NCAA's hypocrisy that stops the hoops tourney from coming to Oregon.
9:41 a.m.
Jun 28, '05
NCAA? Hypocritical? No.... Say it ain't so....
You couldn't possibly be talking about that anti-gambling organization that runs the single largest opportunity for sports gambling event of the year...