NBA Chief Adam Silver’s Times Editorial Shows His Vision
National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver is a man on a mission to increase awareness of sports within the nation and bring much needed revenues to the sport. His support for legalizing sports betting on gambling sites is a step in the right direction as it will benefit the league financially when sporting enthusiasts lay bets for their favourite teams. Sports’ betting is legal in a few nations of Europe and also Australia and voters in New York also voted for the same but it has been turned down. Adam Silver made a fervent request to Congress to allow authorized betting which would be strictly subjected to regulatory safeguards.
NBA Chief’s arguments for legalized sports betting
He is pushing to legalize gambling to bring the game into mainstream life engaging people’s interest so they will watch more basketball to see if their teams win the games. Major sporting events in the nation like Super Bowl and hockey matches are already being bet upon illegally and legal betting will help improve the situation and protect rights of gamblers. Advocates against legalizing sports gambling in United States are worried that this move will make players and bookies corrupt as they try to change game outcome to suit their bets. Previous scandals of sports betting is a major reason behind government’s recent refusal to allow legal sports betting as it can lead to cheating and distortion in performance of athletes.
Gambling within strict regulations
Though Adam Silver faced stiff opposition from sports authorities and legislators who opposed his move to cap NBA salaries few of them are supporting him in his campaign to legalize sports betting as it can help the league earn more profits. He is being supported in this endeavour by officials of New Jersey’s Gaming Authority which is aiming to earn better revenue from these resources. Legalized sports betting in New Jersey will generate funds for Atlantic City too which has lost customers to new casinos opening in neighbouring states. Adam Silver stated that strong regulations related to age-verification, identifying and banning people with gambling addiction and tight restrictions on money transfers will keep issues within check and reduce chances of unlawful activities.