Las Vegas' bids for getting NCAA champion occasions hit snag
A possible landmark change in the NCAA's stance versus positioning championship occasions in Nevada now appears to be on hold.
Next month, the NCAA Board of Governors will consider a formal proposition from UNLV and the Mountain West to stage three NCAA championship occasions in Las Vegas from 2019-22.
Separate from those is a proposal to play the whole females's Sweet 16 to the Last Four in Vegas. That would need to be authorized by different NCAA entities.
Several sources have actually told CBS Sports the possibility of those quotes being approved have reduced of late. That's due to the fact that the NCAA continues to be a plaintiff combating a New Jersey law passed in 2014 permitting sports gambling within the state.
Far, New Jersey has failed on every front to execute the law. In addition to the NCAA, complainants fighting the law include the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball, along with the Department of Justice
The United States Supreme Court is in the process of choosing whether it will hear New Jersey's appeal in the event. West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wisconsin have also filed briefs with the court in support of New Jersey.
Simply put, it's a case of bad optics for the NCAA at this time. Sources state the association would be hesitant to approve championship occasions in Nevada while it fights sports gambling in New Jersey.
The NCAA's veteran policy has actually been to withhold championships from states that enable sports betting. However the week started with the Oakland Raiders announcing a transfer to Las Vegas. The new T-Mobile Arena in the city will be the home of the expansion Golden Knights of the NHL next fall.
Several conferences play their postseason conference basketball competitions in the city. This previous season, North Carolina and Kentucky met in T-Mobile for a neutral-site game.
College types thought the momentum for NCAA occasions in Nevada-- particularly Vegas-- was inescapable.
" This is rhetorical," said Jim Livengood, who retired as UNLV's athletic director in 2013 and is now a specialist for Las Vegas Events, an occasion management business which has dealt with the quote, "but wouldn't you think that if there was a concern with NFL, it would not come to Nevada?"
The detailed bid for several champion occasions in the state of Nevada is thought to be the first of its kind to be considered by the NCAA.
" We're held to a different standard," stated UNLV ADVERTISEMENT Tina Kunzer-Murphy, who has actually long defended NCAA occasions. "We have the highest [gambling] regulatory standard in the country. With hockey being available in and the wonderful Raiders, there is definitely no reason for this coming in."
A successful bid would basically open the NCAA to Las Vegas after years of the association preventing the betting Mecca. The proposals consist of Las Vegas hosting a guys's basketball local in T-Mobile Arena along with fumbling and men's ice hockey national championships.
If the board does not approve the quotes, Nevada would be locked out till a minimum of the next bid cycle beginning in 2023.
" We're going to miss out on that four-year window," Livengood stated. "The awful thing about that is it's not about Vegas, but the experience the student-athletes and teams might have."
In early March, Gonzaga won the West Coast Conference competition, kept in Las Vegas.
It has actually been only lately the NCAA seemingly shifted its stance regarding staging championship events in Nevada, which legalized sports gambling in 1949.
In December 2015, NCAA president Mark Emmert kept in mind "exactly what typically appears to be a hypocritical stance," by the association regarding Las Vegas. At that time, he predicted there would be "robust conversation" among the NCAA membership concerning Nevada.
Social mores have actually altered. 4 Division I conferences stage their postseason college basketball tournaments in Las Vegas (Pac-12, WAC, West Coast and Mountain West). Those events aren't governed by the NCAA.
" [Our fans] probably wouldn't travel there if it wasn't in Vegas," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team plays yearly in the West Coast Conference tournament. "It will be exciting to have an NFL team down there. I'm sure Las Vegas has been waiting for that."
As for the worry about Sin City's vices, Few said, "Gaming is everywhere. [Why fret about Vegas] when it's in our own front yard and backyard?"
The NCAA board will consider the most recent Nevada proposal on April 25. That is after the NCAA Council satisfies April 12-14 when it would submit a recommendation.
" I think it was tracking well," one high-ranking NCAA official said of Nevada. "I think we've had these test pilots being out there a bunch, conference championships that have handled it well.
" It appears like a logical place when you look at that region of the nation. It's available. There are simple flights."
Because of the dearth of venues in that region, western cities have not been using to host NCAA males's competition websites. From 2008-16 the West Regional turned in between Anaheim (Honda Center), Los Angeles (Staples Center) and the Phoenix area in every year but one (2010, Salt Lake).
This month, the West Regional was played in San Jose, California. Until this week in Glendale, Arizona, a true Western city hasn't played host to the Final 4 given that 1995 (Seattle).
Nevada is among 4 states nationwide to allow sports wagering. In a strange one-off, the NCAA did allow the females's basketball West Regional to be played in Las Vegas in 1991.
It is thought there has actually been no revenue-sport champion event played in the state because then.
" There will sometime be NCAA Check This Out championship events kept in Nevada," Livengood stated. "That's going to take place. It's not an if, it's a when."
The NCAA's veteran policy has been to withhold championships from states that permit sports betting. The week began with the Oakland Raiders revealing a move to Las Vegas." We're held to a different standard," said UNLV ADVERTISEMENT Tina Kunzer-Murphy, who has actually long combated for NCAA occasions. Four Division I conferences stage their postseason college basketball tournaments in Las Vegas (Pac-12, WAC, West Coast and Mountain West)." There will at some point be NCAA champion occasions held in Nevada," Livengood said.