NCAA Will Squawk as Sports Betting Bill Comes to Roost in Delaware

You never know where a big controversy in football will turn up—it could be anywhere from Gainesville, FL, to Oakland—but you almost never expect it to come from the Delaware State House of Representatives.

Yet today that's where some controversial news is coming from, Dover, DL, as the House, in the wee hours Friday morning, approved legislation for sports betting and table games.

The bill passed 30-4 only two days after a similar bill was not approved. The latter bill gives the state's three racinos (Delaware's combo race tracks and casinos) added table games and an even split in sports lottery revenue, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell has said the bill would give his state much-needed revenue (estimates are between $52 million and $55 million)  for the upcoming fiscal year and is part of his overall economic plan.

The Wilmington News Journal  gave some details of the debate and long night:

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Little word was given about the closed-door discussions, except at 7:30 p.m., when Markell’s chief of staff, Tom McGonigle, left to grab a pizza and later when House Minority Leader Richard Cathcart, R-Middletown, came out to have pizza ordered for the rest of his caucus, signaling it was going to be much longer.

"

Because of a brief and unsuccessful experiment with a sports lottery in the late 1970s, Delaware is one of only four states, along with Nevada, Montana and Oregon, grandfathered in under a 1992 federal law banning sports betting.

Exactly how sports betting would work in Delaware is not set, but you can bet the NFL and NCAA will weigh in on this as they (along with the NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball) already are opposed to Nevada's legal books.

If the bill does become law, the NCAA would bar the state's universities from holding NCAA championships.  To which the Delaware legislators and Markell have said kiss our Blue Hen butts. After all, when was the last time Delaware hosted a major NCAA championship?

Markell has said Delaware needs to try to enhance ways to generate money as neighboring Pennsylvania and Maryland already have slot machines and New Jersey is considering a similar bill on sports betting.

More notes on a Friday morning

Lame, er Lane Kiffin continues to make some interesting, OK mind-numbing moves before coaching a down at Tennessee. His latest move was to sign defensive lineman Daniel Hood, who was convicted of raping his cousin when Hood was 13. Most coaches avoided Hood, but Kiffin felt he deserved a second chance. We shall see about this one.

ESPN.com college football writer Ivan Maisel will have a chat at 2 PM Eastern today.

Read more about sports betting in Delaware.