At first blush, NBA commissioner Adam Silver got what he wanted: the widespread legalization and regulation of sports betting in the United States.
That, at least, was the headline of the New York Times op-ed Silver wrote 10 years ago today, “Legalize and Regulate Sports Betting.”
It was a huge thing at the time — the head of a professional sports league that had fought against sports betting for so long doing an about-face in the newspaper of record.
However, if you read past the headline — and I know that’s a big ask these days — you’ll see that Silver sought something more specific.
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What the NBA commissioner said in his op-ed was that “Congress should adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports, subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards.”
Silver didn’t get that, exactly. Instead, he got a 2018 Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the legalization and regulation of sports betting by nearly 40 different states in almost 40 different ways.
That's not lost on Silver. The commissioner told CNBC recently that while he likes the fact they are now dealing with regulated markets, he would still much prefer if there were just one, giant market in the U.S.
“My preference 10 years ago, it still is, [is] that there be a federal framework for sports betting,” Silver said. “And again, I recognize that that's not likely to happen anytime soon. So we'll deal with [it] state-by-state.”
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It’s indeed notable Silver isn’t declaring the mission accomplished on the tin anniversary of his Times op-ed.
Silver and the NBA were the league pushing the hardest for sports betting legalization, including taking to the pages of the New York Times to advocate for change. The other three of the Big Four leagues weren’t as bold, even if they were quick to adapt and embrace sports betting when the walls came tumbling down.
The NBA was also stung by the Jontay Porter scandal earlier this year, which was one of the more egregious incidents of the legal sports betting era. That prompted the league to turn its self-regulation efforts toward the wagering menus of its official sports betting partners. There are now operators that will no longer book "Unders" on NBA players who are on two-way or 10-day contracts.
All of the above amounts to the most vocal of the professional sports leagues still seeing something missing from our sports betting status quo. And while the commissioner hasn't penned additional NYT op-eds, he’s certainly been opining to media outlets recently, such as CNBC and the Associated Press.
“I still think you can’t turn the clock back,” Silver told the AP in October. “I think, as I said at the time [of his NYT op-ed], with the advent of the internet, widely available sports betting online … that we had to deal directly with technology and recognize that if we don’t legalize sports betting, people are going to find ways to do it illegally.”
Silver also reiterated his preference for federal oversight, saying the “hodgepodge” of state-by-state regulation makes it tough for the NBA to keep an eye on things and creates competition among jurisdictions for customers and tax dollars.
Be careful what you wish for
Interestingly enough, there is now legislation in Washington that aims to do what Silver would like to see done, which is impose federal oversight over sports betting across the U.S.
The Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every Bet Act, or SAFE Bet Act, was introduced in September. It proposes a framework wherein states would apply to the federal government for approval to run a "sports wagering program" like the ones they’re already running.
The SAFE Bet Act would also do things like ban in-play sports wagering, which would be painful for a league like the NBA that sees so much of that action.
It’s for this and perhaps other, advertising-related reasons that the bill has not been fully embraced by the league. An NBA source told ESPN “that the league is monitoring the legislation and believes it is ‘at the starting point to a very lengthy process.’”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement.
At any rate, the bill is a long way from becoming law, leaving the NBA and Silver waiting for their ideal federal framework for sports betting.
But if you try sometimes ...
In the meantime, the NBA is now bet all over the U.S., legally and via regulated sports betting operators.
The NBA is also privy to reporting on “unusual betting-line movements,” one of the requirements Silver asked for in his NYT op-ed. The NBA even banned Porter earlier this year after being tipped off to “suspicious bets” by licensed sportsbooks.
Furthermore, the NBA has harnessed its business relationships with betting operators to try to curtail certain wagering markets it doesn't like. It could make further adjustments using levers the league itself can pull if it sees the need.
So Silver didn't get everything he wanted. But, eventually, he got what he needed: A form of legal and regulated sports betting to challenge the "illicit bookmaking operations and shady offshore websites" he warned of back in 2014.
We may have gotten here without Silver's op-ed, but it certainly didn't hurt. If anything, it should serve as a reminder that laws can be amended and rules can be changed.
Sports betting was mostly illegal everywhere, now it's mostly legal everywhere. Give it another 10 years, and maybe things will look differently again, and perhaps more to Silver's liking.
