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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver believes that legalized sports betting is “inevitable” and that the National Basketball Association should embrace this concept.
His statements are a complete 180 from previous stances held by the professional sports leagues and comes at a time when ESPN.com has added a “Sports Betting” section within its NFL drop down directory. The National Football League continues to oppose sports betting.
"It's inevitable that, if all these states are broke, that there will be legalized sports betting in more states than Nevada," Silver said, per Bloomberg.com. "We will ultimately participate in that."
The NBA had actually joined a federal lawsuit to prevent sports betting from becoming legalized in the state of New Jersey this past year.
"The one thing I'm certain of is New Jersey has no idea what it's doing and doesn't care because all it's interested in is making a buck or two," then-NBA commissioner David Stern said in November 2012, according to court documents. "They don't care that it's at our potential loss."
Silver believes that wagering on sporting events like an NBA game will help draw further interest in the sport.
"If you have a gentleman's bet or a small wager on any kind of sports contest, it makes you that much more engaged in it," Silver said. "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 are doing in the United Kingdom right now, then it's much more likely you're going to stay tuned for a long time."
- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
