Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) sent a letter to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) President, Dr. Mark Emmert, urging the NCAA to reevaluate its policy on championship site selection in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional. The senators urge the NCAA Board of Governors to consider sites with well-regulated sports betting ahead of the impending expansion of gaming operations in other states.
“We understand that the NCAA will need time to assess the impact that the expansion of regulated sports betting will have on intercollegiate athletics more broadly, and this is an effort that we support,” the senators said. “We also appreciate the NCAA suspending its championship host policy. However, we are urging a permanent change to provide certainty in the bidding and hosting process moving forward. In the meantime, we hope that the NCAA will work with states, member schools, student-athletes, fans, and other stakeholders to develop a permanent championship play policy that permits the selection of a site in a jurisdiction that meets stringent standards for its legal sports wagering markets.”
The senators continued, “Given the Supreme Court ruling in Murphy v. NCAA, we request the NCAA Board of Governors immediately consider more permanent revisions of policy prohibiting championship events from being held in states that permit single-game sports wagering, and to align your championship play policy with the direction from the Court. We believe that the NCAA, its member schools, student-athletes, and fans across the nation could greatly benefit if the NCAA revised its position.”
A copy of the letter can be found HERE and below:
Dear President Emmert:
On May 14, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued a clear decision that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) is unconstitutional as a violation of the anticommandeering doctrine. Given this ruling, we urge the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to swiftly reevaluate and permanently adjust its policy on championship site selection.
The NCAA has maintained a longstanding policy prohibiting championship events from being held in jurisdictions that permit single-game sports wagering. However, given the recent Supreme Court ruling, many more states are likely to expand their gaming operations to include such sports betting. In fact, approximately nineteen states have recent sports’ wagering proposals under consideration in their state legislatures. Therefore, we believe it is important that the NCAA Board of Governors adopt permanent revisions of the championship host policy regarding sports wagering during future meetings and adopt a new championship site selection policy that will allow the NCAA to give equitable consideration to bids from jurisdictions with well-regulated sports wagering operations.
We understand that the NCAA will need time to assess the impact that the expansion of regulated sports betting will have on intercollegiate athletics more broadly, and this is an effort that we support. We also appreciate the NCAA suspending its championship host policy. However, we are urging a permanent change to provide certainty in the bidding and hosting process moving forward. In the meantime, we hope that the NCAA will work with states, member schools, student-athletes, fans, and other stakeholders to develop a permanent championship play policy that permits the selection of a site in a jurisdiction that meets stringent standards for its legal sports wagering markets.
Given the Supreme Court ruling in Murphy v. NCAA, we request the NCAA Board of Governors immediately consider more permanent revisions of policy prohibiting championship events from being held in states that permit single-game sports wagering, and to align your championship play policy with the direction from the Court. We believe that the NCAA, its member schools, student-athletes, and fans across the nation could greatly benefit if the NCAA revised its position.
Sincerely,
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