NBA Comm. Silver in NY Times: Legalize-Regulate Sports Betting

[bankshot1]

Dopes-this topic cuts across several forums, pro-sports-V&N, etc I didn't know where it place it, but I didn't want to bury it, as I feel this blessing from one of the Cardinals of sports, is going to be a sea-changer.
 
So, please move to the best forum.
 
Silver in an op-ed piece in today's NY Times.
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/opinion/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-legalize-sports-betting.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
 

For more than two decades, the National Basketball Association has opposed the expansion of legal sports betting, as have the other major professional sports leagues in the United States.
 
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.
ad public policy.
 
Let me be clear: Any new approach must ensure the integrity of the game. One of my most important responsibilities as commissioner of the N.B.A. is to protect the integrity of professional basketball and preserve public confidence in the league and our sport. I oppose any course of action that would compromise these objectives.
But I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.
 

Silver is taking a rational, if controversial approach. People gamble, we can't stop it, lets regulate it, and presumably lets get a piece of the action.
 
Will the NFL/Goodell follow?

 

[dcmissle]

Unless it were granted a cut of the action, no.  That's how the NFL rolls.  And that's why it was terrific to see Katy Perry call their bluff on SB halftime and win.

 

[bankshot1]

My bet is that the leagues get something to drop opposition, and work with the states/casinos/on-line operators. The pie is too big to ignore.

 

[snowmanny]

I'm sure they would like a piece of the pie and would work to get one.  But even absent a direct cut, wouldn't the legalization of sports betting likely increase overall interest in professional sports?  Wouldn't the ratings on pre-game shows increase if analysts could talk more freely about point spreads and so forth?  I wonder if it would also increase interest in, for example, the NBA relative to the NCAA since betting on college sports would presumably not be legalized.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Here is a key bit from Silver's Op-Ed.
"In England, for example, a sports bet can be placed on a smartphone, at a stadium kiosk or even using a television remote control."
 
I would expect stadium kiosks, the NBA gambling app, and remote based gambling on NBA TV to be rolled out as soon as gambling became legal in an NBA team home state.

 

[NoXInNixon]

Maybe I'm just being a Luddite, but something seems weird to me about the NFL profiting from gambling on the NFL. It just seems like a conflict of interest. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I think I would become suspicious about every decision the commissioner's office made and the timings thereof as to how it would affect point spreads or money lines. It would become in the NFL's best interest for as many games as possible to go into the final minutes with the scoring margin as close to the point spread as possible. Even without any evidence, we'd start to question every call in every game. I think in the long run it has potential to hurt the shield.

 

[soxfan121]

Maybe I'm just being a Luddite, but something seems weird to me about the NFL profiting from gambling on the NFL. It just seems like a conflict of interest. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I think I would become suspicious about every decision the commissioner's office made and the timings thereof as to how it would affect point spreads or money lines. It would become in the NFL's best interest for as many games as possible to go into the final minutes with the scoring margin as close to the point spread as possible. Even without any evidence, we'd start to question every call in every game. I think in the long run it has potential to hurt the shield.

 
Hasn't hurt the NBA. Then again, they have the best trained officiating crews in the world for controlling betting lines. 
 
The only thing more fixed than the NBA is the WWE. And at least the latter admits it.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Watch the "daily fantasy league" operators go to real gambling (like the current games aren't) as soon as this changes, and watch the NBA (who I read has already partnered with one) get a piece of the action, in exchange for letting them use player names/images/stats. 

 

[NoXInNixon]

 
Hasn't hurt the NBA. Then again, they have the best trained officiating crews in the world for controlling betting lines. 
 
The only thing more fixed than the NBA is the WWE. And at least the latter admits it.

Well, I'm only one data point, but I have lost some level of interest in watching NBA games because I question their integrity.

 

[ifmanis5]

I think the gambling aspect would actually clean up the refs. The typical Superstar treatment, flops and make up calls will be held up to more scrutiny which would be a good thing.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

I imagine the NFL would just get a rake % and the score of the games wouldn't affect their bottom line. Kinda like the house in poker.