CBS "is an investor in a company that makes money from
a popular online gambling operation based in the Caribbean,"
according to Tom Farrey in an ESPN.com exclusive report.
FL-based SportsLine USA, which produces the CBS SportsLine
Web site, owns the Web address to Sportsbook.com, and
SportsLine USA President Michael Levy "confirmed" that the
company leases that address to the offshore sports book for
a fixed fee. NCAA Exec Dir Cedric Dempsey said that he
became aware of the year-old relationship last month and has
"expressed concern about the relationship" to CBS, which
owns 18% of SportsLine USA. Dempsey: "At this point,
there's not much we can use other than persuasion. Maybe in
the next go-round in our (television) negotiations we will
be able to be a little stronger on that issue." Farrey
writes that it is "unclear" whether CBS knew about
SportsLine USA's lease with Sportsbook.com. CBS had no
comment, and Levy said he "can't remember" if he told the
network about this relationship. In addition to the lease
agreement, Sportsbook.com also uses some SportsLine USA
personnel and equipment to manage the site. Levy added that
despite numerous offers to buy the Web address, he has "no
plans to get rid of" it (ESPN.com, 3/26). In a
"SportsCenter" Cover Story, Tom Farrey reported that ESPN
owns SportsTicker, which sells news updates to Las Vegas
oddsmaker Jim Feist. But Farrey noted that SportsTicker
receives no money from offshore books (ESPN, 3/25).
LINE DANCING: An estimated $4.5B in legal and illegal
bets have been placed during the first two weeks of this
year's NCAA Tournament, an amount which now surpasses the
Super Bowl (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 3/26).
