NBA commissioner Adam Silver has spoken publicly for the third time about his stance on sports betting. This time he took his viewpoint to the New York Times and had an opinion piece published on Thursday in hopes of influencing the ruling that will take place in one week for New Jersey's legalization.
When New Jersey governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that would allow casinos and racetracks throughout the state to begin taking sports bets, the four major sports leagues and the NCAA filed for an injunction and it was granted by a federal judge. That same judge will rule on the case next week and Silver stance has shed some reasonable light on the subject.
Silver has said multiple times that he supports the legalization of sports betting because it is "inevitable" and points to Europe's regulation of the activity. In England, for example, people can place sports wagers on their phones, at stadium kiosks or on their television. The fact that it's mostly an underground business in the United States further proves that, regardless of the law, sports betting will still happen. Silver believes that "Without a comprehensive federal solution, state measures such as New Jersey's recent initiative will be both unlawful and bad public policy," he wrote in his New York Times piece.
With the right regulations and guidelines, the United States can greatly benefit from legalized sports betting. According to the European Gaming and Betting Association, the gross gambling yield (GGY) of the licensed and regulated global betting market was $58 billion in 2012 and it's projected to reach $70 billion by 2016. Again, that's legalized sports wagering. Imagine all the dollars that are uncounted for in the illegal world of underground gambling (it's estimated at $380 billion in the US, according to the American Gaming Association). Silver's stance clearly shows he's for its legalization if the proper regulations are put in place, which he enumerates as follows:
"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."
Silver's comments and proof that the business could be better regulated and lucrative is a good starting point to promote the legalization of sports betting, but it still might take some time. The ruling next week should be revealing about its future discourse in the United States.
