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NBA Commissioner Expresses Support for US Sports Betting Regulation

Published November 5, 2014 by Amir G

The Commissioner of the NBA Adam Silver has expressed his support for legalized sports betting in the US. Speaking with Bleacher Report's Howard Beck, Silver said that the NBA's best interests are to embrace land-based and online sports gambling rather than work against it, and that he would like to help the government in establishing regulatory frameworks for sports betting, something which can be learned from European regulated markets.

Sports Betting Inevitable

According to Silver, legalized sports betting is inevitable and the current gambling laws are only preventing fans from domestic opportunities. Silver claims that the current gambling laws do not stop Americans from gambling on NBA and other sports: Local bookies and offshore online sportsbook with American punters.

For Silver, this is millions in missed revenues and a fierce objection to get on with reality and the future. Silver commented on how easy it is for Americans to find online sports betting opportunities and contrasted the popularity and legality of online sports betting in Europe and how the NBA is very popular with European punters.

English Premier League an Example

Silver gave the English Football Premier League as an example for a successful sporting league which embraces gambling companies, with the gambling companies being promoted on team jerseys, in-stadium ad boards and other means. This way, both the operators and the Premier League teams profit.

Mobile Sports Betting

Silver noted how fans place bets on their mobiles and tablets as they watch the game, highlighting the fact that nowadays bets are varied and not placed only on the estimated winner but on proposition bets – what will happen in the first half, first ten minutes etc. Such specific bets can be placed on the NBA league which had just started at leading online sportsbooks like Winner Sports and bet365 Sports.