NBA Commissioner Adam Silver restated his prediction that legalized sports betting would become settled law in the United States in the near future. In a panel discussion on US sports, Commissioner Silver said, “My sense is the law will change in the next few years in the United States.”
The commissioners of the four major U.S. sports leagues gathered for a panel discussion Tuesday night at the Paley Center for Media in New York City. The title of the panel discussion was “GameChangers: Creating the Future of Sports”. David Zaslav of Discovery Communications moderated the discussion.
Among a variety of other topics on the docket during the GameChangers debate, the commisioners discussed the legalization of sports betting in that forum.
U.S. Sports Commissioners on Sports Betting
The panel included Roger Goodell, Rob Manfred, Gary Bettman, and Adam Silver. Though Rob Manfred and Gary Bettman have signaled in the past they might be open to changing the sportsbook laws in the past, most of the other commissioners gave pat answers on the subject of federal sports gambling laws.
Adam Silver did not give pat answers. In fact, he went a little further than he had in the past. Silver advocated for live betting, which has proven controversial in other countries. Live betting is sometimes called “in-play betting” in Australia, where it is the subject of a raging debate over the safety and social responsibility of sports betting.
What Is In-Play Betting?
In-play betting allows a gambler to make many proposition wagers throughout the game on their smartphone, as the circumstances of the game evolves. Because of the rapidfire nature of the betting, many people fear live betting is a dangerous for problem gamblers.
Adam Silver gave a full-throated endorsement of in-play betting, stating, “People want to bet throughout the game….It results in enormous additional engagement with the fans.”
Adam Silver’s New York Times Op-Ed Piece
This is not the first time Adam Silver has given support for federally regulated, legal sports betting. In a December 2014 op-ed piece in the New York Times, Adam Silver called for the U.S. Congress to legalize and regulate sportsbooks.
In his 2014 NY Times opinion piece, Adam Silver wrote, “But despite legal restrictions, sports betting is widespread. It is a thriving underground business that operates free from regulation or oversight. Because there are few legal options available, those who wish to bet resort to illicit bookmaking operations and shady offshore websites.
“There is no solid data on the volume of illegal sports betting activity in the United States, but some estimate that nearly $400 billion is illegally wagered on sports [in the United States] each year.”
AGA’s Data on Illegal Sports Betting
The American Gaming Association estimates that at least $150 billion to $200 billion is wagered through bookies, offshore online and mobile sportsbooks, and Internet sports betting exchanges, but Adam Silver’s figure might be correct. The AGA estimates that 97% of the money wagered on sports in the USA each year is done through unregulated bookmaking operations, while the remainder is wagered through Nevada sportsbooks.
Whatever the real numbers are, everyone agrees that the current federal ban against sports betting is not working. The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) has failed to end sports betting. For a nation full of states looking for non-tax revenues — and casino industries in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Mississippi which need an influx of cash — repealing the PASPA would be a boon.
Adam Silver: “Times Have Changed”
Adam Silver said as much in his New York Times op-ed article. Despite decades of opposition from sports commissioners of previous generations, the NBA, NFL, and the Major Leagues have to realize they face new circumstances, argued the NBA’s commissioner.
At the time, Silver wrote, “Times have changed since PASPA was enacted. Gambling has increasingly become a popular and accepted form of entertainment in the United States. Most states offer lotteries. Over half of them have legal casinos. Three have approved some form of Internet gambling, with others poised to follow.”
The NBA commissioner is right. He did not mention that daily fantasy sports sites offer real money gaming opportunities for most Americans. The day before his article was published in the New York Times, Silver signed a promotional deal with DFS operator FanDuel. When Americans can play fantasy sports for real money, it is time to allow legal sports bets.
Rob Manfred on Legal US Sports Betting
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, who came to power around the same time Adam Silver did, has similar views to the NBA commissioner.
Though Commissioner Manfred did not speak out publicly during the GameChangers panel discussion, he told reporters last week, “If there’s going to be a change in the regulatory structure with respects to sports gambling, we needed to be in a position to meaningfully engage and shape, try to shape what the new regulatory scheme looks like.”
Ultimately, that is what Silver and Manfred want. They take the realist view towards regulated sports gambling. In their view, it is a matter of time before the federal government allows states to determine whether land-based sportsbooks will be legal in their jurisdiction. In that case, it is far better for the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball to embrace sports gambling and get their cut of the action.
Rob Manfred Against In-Play Betting
While Rob Manfred seems to agree with his counterpart in the NBA, he seemed to draw back from embracing in-play betting during the GameChangers debate. When asked about live betting during games, Manfred said, “There’s a difference between someone betting on whether the next ball is a strike or betting on the outcome of a game.”
Betting on balls-and-strikes is a bit of a ‘straw man’ argument, but Manfred’s comments show that there are a variety of approaches the leagues might take towards legal sports betting.
Gary Bettman on Las Vegas Golden Knights
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman continues to straddle the fence. In the past, he has deflected questions by saying the NHL receives far less betting action than the other three leagues.
In the past couple of years, it has been in Bettman’s interest to understate the amount of NHL wagering which takes place. The NHL flirted with moving a Canadian franchise to Las Vegas a couple of years ago, but eventually granted an expansion franchise to the area: The Las Vegas Golden Knights.
With the Golden Knights ready to debut in the upcoming NHL season, Bettman was asked about his attitude towards sports betting and match-fixing dangers during the GameChangers discussion. Reiterating his previous statements, Bettman replied, “We’re a small part of betting compared to football and basketball….I don’t worry about fixing games.”
Roger Goodell Opposes Legal Sportsbooks
The only major US sports commissioner who remains adamantly opposed to legal sports betting is Roger Goodell. NFL Commissioner Goodell is thought to have been a leader in the ongoing sports betting lawsuit against the State of New Jersey, which currently is before the U.S. Supreme Court. The late Pittsburgh Steelers owner, Dan Rooney, was a key figure in convincing the US Congress to pass PASPA in 1992, and the NFL continues to publicly oppose legalized sports betting. On the other hand, powerful owners like Robert Kraft and Jerry Jones have invested in daily fantasy sports ventures.
In the coming years, Roger Goddell may have to change or clarify his league’s stance on the issue. The NFL’s owners voted 31-1 to approve the Oakland Raiders’ move to Las Vegas. In 2020 at the latest, the Las Vegas Raiders will play home games a couple of miles from the Las Vegas Strip.
US Supreme Court on PASPA Law
Clarity might come sooner than that, as Goodell might be faced with a fait accompli. New Jersey appealed its sports betting case to the United States Supreme Court and the SCOTUS justices agreed last month to hear the case. Both sides are expected to file legal briefs next month, while the U.S. Supreme Court is supposed to hear arguments when its fall deliberations begin in October 2017. Probably sometime before the end of the year, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case.
If New Jersey wins the case, PASPA will be struck down overnight. If that happens, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has predicted that Monmouth Park and Atlantic City casinos would open sportsbooks by the summer of 2018 — in time for the 2018 NFL regular season. Thus, the GameChangers panel discussion might have been discussing an issue which will be on every commissioner’s mind within the next calendar year.
