Oregon Says Goodbye to Betting on NFL Games

Sports Action began 1989, while Monday Night Scoreboard was introduced in 2003.

Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - Super Bowl XLI marks the last day of the Oregon Lottery’s Sports Action, and Monday Night Scoreboard. During the 2005 Oregon legislative session, House Bill 3466, which goes into effect on July 1st, was introduced and passed to eliminate the Lottery’s sports games, specifically Sports Action and Monday Night Scoreboard, after the 2006-07 football season. The rationale behind the bill had to do with the ability to attract NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to Oregon. The bill’s proponents pointed to the potential revenue that could be generated in the state by people from throughout the country traveling to Oregon to attend these NCAA basketball games, particularly the men’s games. In the past, the NCAA had said as long as there were sports betting games being offered in Oregon, they would not permit a site in Oregon to host an NCAA men’s or women’s basketball tournament game. The NCAA recently announced that first and second round men’s NCAA basketball tournament games will be held at the Rose Garden in Portland in March 2009. Sports Action has been very successful, having posted all-time sales records the past two years. For FY 06, Sports Action sales were $12.1 million and Monday Night Scoreboard’s sales were over $644,000 for a combined sales total of over $12.7 million. The prize payouts vary based on the luck of the players playing Sports Action and Monday Night Scoreboard. The higher the payouts (prizes paid to players), the lower the amount the schools receive. While sales have been high, the transfer amounts to the schools have gone from a high of $2.9 million in fiscal year ’03 to a low of less than $1 million in FY 06.