Adam Silver Calls for Legalized Sports Betting
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(NEW YORK) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver believes it is time for society to embrace sports gambling.
Silver wrote an op-ed on the New York Times website calling for the United States government to embrace placing bets on professional sports in a heavily legislated manner; similar to the manner in which Europe runs its betting market.
From the New York Times article, Silver writes:
“…despite legal restrictions, sports betting is widespread. It is a thriving underground business that operates free from regulation or oversight. Because there are few legal options available, those who wish to bet resort to illicit bookmaking operations and shady offshore websites. There is no solid data on the volume of illegal sports betting activity in the United States, but some estimate that nearly $400 billion is illegally wagered on sports each year.”
A New Jersey judge is expected to make a ruling on the legality of the state accepting bets on sporting events. The NBA, as well as the other major sports leagues have filed an injunction to ban the state from accepting such wagers.
When asked to comment on the article, Tim Frank, VP of Communications at the NBA told ABC Radio that, “the article speaks for itself and we don’t have any additional comments to make on it.”
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