A click of the computer mouse can buy a lot for the Internet-surfing sports fan. Buy an autographed jersey. Buy tickets.
Buy some action.
It figures that when the football season rolls into high gear this month, a growing number of people will be keeping one eye on the game preview shows when the topic is point spreads and the other eye on the computer. The live bookie who could be reached with a phone call can be replaced by an online bookmaker with an Internet address.
The federally appointed National Gambling Impact Study has estimated that at least $1.6 billion was bet via the Internet last year. There are more than 1,400 Internet sites that handle bets, and the total wagered worldwide is expected to reach $6 billion by 2003.
Because sports wagering in this country is illegal except in three states, most companies backing the Internet sites base their operations in Caribbean countries to avoid the reach of U.S. law enforcement.
One Internet site that specializes in sports wagering estimates it had 800 customers last year and will have more than 12,000 before the end of this year.
This sort of activity hasn’t gone unnoticed in Washington. Citing a Harvard University study that terms Internet gambling the “crack cocaine of gambling,” Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has introduced bills to ban all Internet gambling.
With bipartisan support from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the bill passed through the Senate last year. It bogged down in the House after concerns from religious groups over language in the bill that exempted horse racing and concerns involving future lottery sales through the Internet.
More Top Picks Best Foldable Reading Glasses
The horse racing obstacle might have been cleared up this year when the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1971 was clarified to expand off-track wagering to include Internet bets. So Kyl is feeling more confident.
“We’re going to pass legislation in this Congress that will make Internet gambling illegal,” Kyl told reporters on Capitol Hill. “I’m convinced of that.”
According to Senate hearing testimony, Kyl has two concerns. Unlike making a sports bet in Nevada, a person living in Illinois or any other state doesn’t have to make a trip to place the bet when he goes online. And making a bet over the Internet is as easy as buying an autographed jersey or tickets to next week’s game. All that’s needed is a credit card.
“A person can get in deep,” Kyl said.
Kyl suggests that Internet service providers should block access to known wagering sites. Other legislators have suggested making it illegal for credit card companies to accept charges from known wagering sites.
Among constituents in the sports industry, the NCAA is the most visible proponent of Kyl’s bill. The NCAA–stung by a number of point-shaving scandals in the 1990s at high-profile institutions such as Boston College, Northwestern and Arizona State–recently has started conducting background checks on its game officials to weed out anyone with ties to gambling.
“People have come up to me and said, `Coach, you had a great year. You went 10-2,'” South Carolina football coach Lou Holtz said. “I tell them that we didn’t go 10-2, and they said `Yes, you did. Against the point spread.’
“I’ve even been cheered after a loss because we beat the spread.”
But now that the Internet has entered the picture, the NCAA sees the future of gambling.
“We’re very concerned,” said Bill Saum, NCAA director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities. “The athletes can do it in the privacy of their own residence. There is no age group more familiar with computers and the Internet than college-age students. To wager on the Internet, all anyone needs is a credit card.”
Saum cited a survey by Nellie Mae, the student loan lender, that showed that more than 65 percent of undergraduate students have credit cards, and 20 percent have four or more cards. The average balance is $2,225.