We’ve heard Adam Silver argue before in favor of sports betting but the NBA commissioner took it one step further recently penning an op-ed in the Thursday edition of the New York Times.
Outside of the United States, sports betting and other forms of gambling are popular, widely legal and subject to regulation. In England, for example, a sports bet can be placed on a smartphone, at a stadium kiosk or even using a television remote control.
In light of these domestic and global trends, the laws on sports betting should be changed. Congress should adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports, subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards.
These requirements would include: mandatory monitoring and reporting of unusual betting-line movements; a licensing protocol to ensure betting operators are legitimate; minimum-age verification measures; geo-blocking technology to ensure betting is available only where it is legal; mechanisms to identify and exclude people with gambling problems; and education about responsible gaming.
As many others have noted, this is a shift in policy from the days of David Stern, who fought against a team in Las Vegas. While Stern never argued against gambling he also never came out in support of it either.
As for the timing of this op-ed, well, one has to wonder if the NBA’s deal with Fanduel (a one-day fantasy company) prompted it. At the very least it certainly brought the issue into mainstream discussion.
