Montana response to NCAA was 'just right'
By Mark Staples, MTA
Government Affairs Counsel
This past month the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) gave a formal opinion, welcomed by Montanans, that our fantasy sports and sports pools laws did not violate either federal law or the NCAA's policies against sports betting.
Earlier this year, an NCAA spokesperson, in a televised off-hand comment, caused great concern among Montana college sports fans and our NCAA-affiliated universities, by saying in essence that Montana's “sports betting” laws violated NCAA policy and consequently, the state might not be allowed to host any more NCAA playoff games.
Given that Montana universities have hosted such events for years, that set off alarms throughout Montana and particularly at the NCAA-affiliated universities.
The point of this column is to thank Montana government and university officials for handling the matter so even-handedly and effectively. No one, in the Governor's office, the Attorney General's office, or in the university realm, overreacted or grandstanded on this issue. They acted calmly, rationally, professionally, and with laudable self-control.
Any of these entities could've raised a ruckus, grabbed for headlines, and overstated their case. None did. Their case, by the way, was solid: that Montana's laws do not in any way violate federal law or NCAA policy; the NCAA simply had been mistaken.
Our Attorney General, Steve Bullock, and his office presented Montana's argument respectfully, but firmly, and it was successful.
So, Montana Tavern Association thanks Atty. Gen. Bullock, Gambling Control Division Administrator Rick Ask, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, his Chief Policy Advisor Hal Harper, U of M President George Dennison, U of M Vice President Jim Foley, and U of M attorney David Aranofsky, for their handling of the matter, which was “just right.”
My personal thanks also to MTA itself, which in 1992 was willing to spend the money to send me, then still fairly new to MTA, to Washington, D.C., to work with U.S. Sen. Max Baucus and his staff, as well as NFL's lead attorney, to craft and pass in federal law, the exemption that allowed limited fantasy sports and sports pools in Montana.
So, hats off to MTA for having the foresight 17 years ago to invest the time and expense to get the exemption that allows the fantasy sports and sports pools that mean so much to our Montana licensees.
Thanks to Sen. Baucus for getting us that exemption 17 years ago, and thanks to our Montana government and university officials for seeing this year that we get to keep it.
A job well done by all.
Montanans should be proud.