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While the National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver may have gone against the status quo by suggesting the time has come for legalized sports betting on NBA games, some of his colleagues – most notably the National Hockey League’s Gary Bettman – remain opposed to the idea.
Silver does have one high profile and very outspoken NBA team owner in his corner. That would be Mark Cuban.
The Dallas Mavs owner reacted to Silver’s opt-ed piece in the New York Times Friday morning.
"Adam has it exactly right," Cuban told CBSSports.com Friday.
Cuban is not one to dance around issues. He supports the theory that the surge in daily fantasy sports contests has a great deal to do with Silver’s sudden change of heart.
From CBS Sports:
In an email exchange with CBSSports.com, Cuban said he believes Silver realizes that it's "hypocritical" of sports leagues to reward and endorse fantasy sports but oppose sports betting. Silver's op-ed was published online a day after the NBA announced a fantasy sports partnership with FanDuel, a CBS Sports sponsor.
"We all know leagues benefit from the interest in our leagues that [gambling and fantasy sports] create," Cuban said. "In the past for PR reasons, we have put up token resistance to them. I agree with Adam that now is the time to take sports betting out of the shadows and deal with it like the huge business it is."
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
