The Viejas C****o Arena?
The Viejas C****o Arena?
Having a gaming company or gaming executive’s name attached to a building or facility at UNLV isn’t much of an issue.
The Boyd School of Law, Harrah’s School of Hotel Administration, Sam Boyd Stadium and the Fertitta Tennis Complex are examples of gaming’s partnership with the university.
San Diego State University, however, is a different matter.
Some folks are objecting that the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians might take over the naming rights of the school’s on-campus sports arena.
A $4.8 million deal San Diego State signed with Cox Communications for the Cox Arena, home of the Aztecs’ basketball teams, expires next June. The university is talking with other potential partners.
The Viejas tribe operates a large Indian casino and outlet shopping mall outside of San Diego. It’s unclear if the word casino would be used in the name.
Still, some problem gambling advocates told the San Diego Union-Tribune they were uneasy about any kind of arrangement between the university and the tribal-run casino.
“It contributes to this normalization of gambling, sort of saying to these very easily influenced age groups of kids, 'This is OK, this is part of your world,' ” Alyssa Sklar, a senior researcher at McGill University in Montreal who specializes in youths with gambling problems, told the newspaper.
A San Diego State spokesman, however, said the Viejas tribe has been a “great contributor” to the local community.
