Educating the NCAA: Las Vegas should be off the ‘banned’ list

Las Vegas has been a boon to college conference basketball tournaments. Imagine what it could do for the signature event of March Madness.

Jim Livengood, UNLV’s director of athletics, spent this past weekend at the Final Four in New Orleans making that very pitch. The NCAA has long imposed a ban on holding not just its basketball championships, but any championships, in Nevada because of the presence of legal, regulated sports wagering in the state.

The governing body for intercollegiate athletics opposes betting on its competitions on the notion that it exploits its athletes. It’s a dated and nonsensical position, considering Nevada’s sports books handle a fraction of the action on major college sports, with the bulk of betting taking place in other states — much of it illegally. If Nevada stopped taking bets on college events, as the NCAA wants, the games would be at greater risk of fixing and point shaving because all wagering would be driven underground.

“I really believe the concerns about gambling and sports books are no longer issues that should hold any of this up,” Mr. Livengood told the Review-Journal’s Ed Graney.

Besides, tournaments played in Las Vegas decided three of the participants in this year’s NCAA field, and next season, the Pac-12 Conference tourney will make it four (assuming the Mountain West, West Coast and Western Athletic conferences all return). These conferences have committed to Las Vegas for two reasons. First, tournament attendance has been poor in other cities. Second, fans want to come here.

Those are the same reasons the NCAA, at a minimum, should consider placing eight universities at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center for second- and third-round men’s basketball tournament games. Average attendance at NCAA Tournament games has been dropping each year, according to USA Today. Total attendance was down about half a million spectators from 2007 to 2011, when it hit a five-year low despite the expansion of the tournament field to 68 teams. Vast numbers of empty seats were visible during most early-round games in this year’s tournament.

Las Vegas is an ideal destination for an event that provides fans with extremely short notice to make travel arrangements: great airport, lots of flights, affordable luxury rooms, convenience to the game site and hotels.

“This is about recognizing Las Vegas as a great sports community. I’m trying my best to use the relationships I’ve made over the years to get things done,” Mr. Livengood, a former athletic director at the University of Arizona and Washington State University, said of his meetings with NCAA officials. “I think I have some credibility. We’ll see what happens.”

The breakthrough, if it comes, will take at least four or five years, Mr. Graney reported. But it could lead to NCAA championships in other sports begin staged here as well.

It’s great to see Mr. Livengood look out not just for his university, but for the economic well-being of the valley as well. As he builds his case, Nevada elected officials and business leaders should be ready to back him up.