美国国家公共电台 NPR Las Vegas Welcomes The Spread Of Sports Gambling

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For years, Nevada has had a near monopoly on legal sports betting in the U.S. So you might think that Las Vegas might not be so keen on the Supreme¹ Court's decision to allow all states to legalize sports gambling². But as NPR's Leila Fadel reports, casino executives and longtime bookmakers say the expansion could mean big wins for everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: And the Celts to win it all.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE³: At MGM Grand, a bookmaker takes bets on games at a circular counter near the casino. Hockey is among the games being broadcast on the 47 flat-screens. Gamblers sit in leather seats to watch and to strategize.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Fifty dollars...

FADEL: Kevin Olson and Josh Sturm are on a guys' trip mostly to play cards and golf. The sports betting is icing, they say.

JOSH STURM: Honestly, there's a lot of avenues online that you can use. And people that we know and myself use online for sports betting quite often.

FADEL: But Sturm prefers to gamble in person rather than online.

STURM: You know, you always wonder is there some element of, you know, cheating, I guess? (Laughter).

FADEL: The American Gaming Association estimates people bet $150 billion on professional and college sports games illegally every year. And with the Supreme Court decision to allow states to permit sports betting, Sturm and his friend Kevin Olson could make legal bets in person closer to their homes in Austin, Texas, very soon.

KEVIN OLSON: If it's something that opens up in Texas, I feel like I would be doing a bit more sports betting just year-round, not just here in Vegas.

FADEL: But Olson says he'll still head to Las Vegas for the experience, golfing, shows, poker⁴, slots and restaurants. And that's what bookmakers and casino execs are banking⁵ on. Later, I reached Jim Murren by Skype because he was traveling. He's the chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International.

JAMES MURREN: Yes, we've enjoyed a monopoly or near monopoly of sports betting. But Las Vegas benefits when there's interest in our field - our field of entertainment sports, sports betting, gambling in general.

FADEL: Many gaming experts agree. Murren says when casino gambling started in other states and Indian reservations, Las Vegas continued to thrive. He called the Supreme Court decision a sea change and says it will make Nevada the model for newcomers to the legal sports betting industry. MGM conducted focus groups over five years with their 30 million members to see how a decision like this would affect Las Vegas. And he says the findings show that people will keep coming and will take a greater interest in sports across the country. Also, it's an important step, he says, toward erasing⁶ the stigma⁷ attached to an industry often seen as predatory.

MURREN: The traditional view of the casino industry is starting to evolve. But it will be viewed much differently five years from now, and this'll be a major reason why.

FADEL: Murren says MGM hopes to expand sports betting to their other properties when other states begin permitting and regulating it. Right now, sports betting is a drop in the bucket of the money Nevada makes off gaming. In the last fiscal⁸ year, Nevada took in $688.6 million in tax fees on gaming. And only about 2 percent of that came from sports betting, according to the Nevada gaming association.

JIMMY VACCARO: Everything is controlled from here. Come here.

FADEL: At the South Point Hotel and Casino just off the strip, bookmaker Jimmy Vaccaro takes me behind the counter to show me how people make bets online and in person.

VACCARO: I've been fortunate being in this crazy racket for 41 years. This is my...

FADEL: He says there's a lot to iron out to keep it lucrative⁹, from state taxes to whether the leagues will get a cut of the betting. Vaccaro says there may be fewer people through the doors. But...

VACCARO: There'll be plenty of opportunities, a lot of other places where people like us to, in a sense, run their book for them only because of what we have done, only because...

FADEL: And that opportunity, he says, outweighs¹⁰ the possible losses. In the 41 years Vaccaro's been in the business, a lot has changed - betting moving online, more expensive costs to air professional football games.

VACCARO: We're always reinventing ourselves.

FADEL: And that is what bookmakers like him will keep doing. Leila Fadel, NPR News, Las Vegas.

(SOUNDBITE OF KLIMEKS' "DON'T LET GO")

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

5 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

6 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

7 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

8 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

9 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

10 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句