Adam Silver became the first commissioner from a major sports league to come out in favor of legal sports gambling and he reflected on how it remains more of a driver of engagement with the NBA than it does a revenue steam for the league.
“As I said sort of day one, it’s not a huge business for us in terms of a revenue stream into the league, but it makes a big difference in engagement,” said Silver. “It’s something that people clearly enjoy doing. I’d put it in the category of other things in society that I wouldn’t criminalize them, but on the other hand that you have to heavily regulate them because if there’s not guardrails, people will run afoul and create issues, problems for themselves, potentially for their families or for operations like us.”
Back in 2014, the NBA opened its conversations on embracing legal gambling as a way to get more engagement in its product.
“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 at the time. “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.”
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