When the NBA’s commissioner went to bat for legalized sports betting before PASPA was overturned in 2018, Adam Silver had an idea of what the gambling landscape needed to look like.
This isn’t quite what he had in mind.
Key Takeaways
- Adam Silver says the regulatory structure is limiting how the NBA can handle gambling problems.
- The NBA commissioner is in favor of a more “consistent” framework.
- Silver still supports legalized over illegal gambling, over 10 years after he took a stance.
With 39 U.S. states having legalized sports betting through online, retail, or both, Silver expected a more uniform approach to regulation. That hasn’t been the case, and he believes it's created some of the gambling problems the NBA has faced over the last couple of years.
“The issues have been predictable,” Silver said on Tuesday. “I thought PASPA should be replaced with a legalized framework consistent from state to state, in partnership with the sports leagues protecting integrative rights.
“At times, I feel like we’re operating with one hand tied behind our back because of the regulatory structure right now.”
Silver, who spoke during the “Tuned in Summit,” is referring to the jurisdictional differences and how that could affect policy change moving forward.
Growing issues
Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter was banned from the NBA for gambling on games, but also for manipulating his playing time to help a gambling ring profit from his player props.
This landed Porter in hot water with the feds, and he pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges last year, while the group of co-conspirators is also awaiting sentencing for their roles in the scandal.
Porter isn’t the only gambling crisis to arise in recent years. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is part of the wide-ranging federal probe that nabbed Porter. Although Rozier has not been charged, there is an investigation into a 2023 game that was flagged for suspicious betting activity.
The NBA is still looking into free-agent guard Malik Beasley, despite federal investigators clearing him in their probe. He has yet to sign with a team.
Supporting change
Player prop betting is a major concern for Silver because of the ability to affect under wagering on stats, something that’s difficult for the league and watchdog firms to pick up on. College basketball is going through its own issues with that now.
Last month, the NBA told ESPN that the league wants sportsbooks to limit some of those wagers.
“Protecting the integrity of our game is paramount, and we believe reasonable limitations on certain prop bets should be given due consideration,” an NBA spokesperson told ESPN. “Any approach should aim to reduce the risk of performance manipulation while ensuring that fans who wish to place prop bets can continue to do so via legal, regulated markets.”
Some states limit or prohibit college basketball player props, but all allow NBA. Silver would like to see that change, but because it’s at the state level, there would likely be an imbalance across the country, like there is with college basketball.
Holding his stance
Despite the NBA’s concerns, Silver still stands by his decade-long stance that legal sports betting is better than offshore markets and local bookies, which for years operated undetected from the league’s reach.
Now, there are integrity firms that work with the NBA and legal sportsbooks to monitor unusual betting activity. Operators, who are licensed by each state, don’t want to fall into issues with regulators, so they work with leagues and state agencies when issues like the Porter situation occur.
“The comparison can’t be legalized sports betting to no betting,” Silver said. “It’s legalized sports betting to illegal sports betting, which, as I wrote in that op-ed piece in 2014, (was) a huge multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry at the time. And so then the question becomes, if people are determined to bet on sports, would you rather have a transparent, regulated framework or an underground illegal one?”
