NBA Supports Sports Betting

Posted By: Date: 09/09/2014 at 12:00 am Leave a comment

Though we’ve talked in great length about the legalization of online gambling, how no deposit bonuses help drive traffic to site and tempts players to play at home versus going to a casino, and the opposition of online gambling, one thing that we really haven’t talked about is sports betting. We haven’t discussed it because there really hasn’t been too much news to report on it. That’s changed dramatically.

On September 5th, Adam Silver made a pretty bold claim. He said that he believes legalized sports betting in the United States will eventually happen, and that the league is completely open to participating in it. This is a huge statement, considering NFL commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed earlier this year that the NFL opposes the legalization of online sports gambling and that his stance won’t change.

In an interview with Bloomberg, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said “It’s inevitable that, if all these states are broke, that there will be legalized sports betting in more states than Nevada. We will ultimately participate in that.”

The NBA is the first league to fully support online sports betting. In addition to the NFL, the MLB and the NHL are opposed to legalized sports betting. Former NBA commissioner David Stern opposed it, but once he retired and Adam Silver took over, the league’s stance changed. Stern had said that New Jersey had “no idea what it’s doing” because it was just “interested in making a buck or two”.

Silver envisions a future where users can bet directly from their smartphones.

“That’s where we’re going to see it pay dividends. If people are watching a game and clicking to bet on their smartphones, which is what people in the United Kingdom are doing right now, then it’s much more likely you’re going to stay tuned in for a long time.”

If you’ve been to Las Vegas, you know how huge sports betting can be. In 2013, $3.6 billion was wagered on sports betting alone. With numbers that large, it’s no surprise that the NBA now wants to support online betting.

What’s interesting to me is the fact that he came out and blatantly showed his support for it, especially now. It’s a particularly volatile time in the world of online gambling. It’ll be interesting to see if any other leagues change their stance on the issue. If the issue expands to physical competitions, such as boxing or mixed martial arts, the money will pour in.

The next few months are going to be very interesting in the world of sports betting. It remains to be seen if the general public will oppose the idea of legalized sports betting, but if the amount of money spent on illegal sports betting annually is any indication (which is something to the tune of $300+ billion), they’ll accept legalized sports betting with open arms.

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