Sport Betting Too Popular to Ignore Says Adam Silver

Legal or not, sports betting is one of the most popular online forms of gambling. According to the Nevada Gaming Commission, $3.2 billion was wagered legally in Nevada on different sports games during 2011.

Adam Silver, Commissioner of the National Basketball Association, has estimated that nearly $400 billion is wagered annually through underground sports betting agencies. He continued that sports betting is a very profitable industry.

New Jersey was the first state to try to legalize sports gambling. Many news outlets, such as CNN and U.S. News, speculate that this move is a response to failing racetrack and casino industries. The state hopes that legal sports betting will reinvigorate the gaming industry, which has a competitive disadvantage when compared to Las Vegas.

Club CalNeva Doesn't Think That This Idea Is Far-Fetched

Analysts of trends in Las Vegas estimate that legal sports gambling could bring to New Jersey about $1.3 billion in gross revenues. It can also bring the state $120 million in tax revenues. Added to that, the introduction of sports wagering could add thousands of new jobs for the people of New Jersey. This is one of the reasons residents voted 2-1 to allow gambling on sports in the state.

Although sports betting can be beneficial, the industry does have a controversial history. The biggest scandal was the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox team, where eight of the White Sox ballplayers came to an agreement to lose the World Series on purpose for money from gamblers. This resulted in all eight players being permanently banned from playing professional baseball. Other scandals have also occurred over the years, but the White Sox scandal was clearly the most intricate one that affected professional sports.

It is thought that the legalization of sports betting will encourage more scandals. However, legalization could allow for greater regulation and protection for gamblers in the industry. The Chicago Tribune reports that most sports gambling is currently untaxed and unregulated because gamblers place bets on offshore operations that do not follow U.S. federal laws. By making sports betting legal, lawmakers can ensure that bettors feel protected and safe, while at the same time limiting scandalous behavior from offshore bookmakers who tend not to pay out winnings.

Apart from increasing revenues and protecting gamblers, bringing gambling into sports could also rekindle an interest in the game for fans. Adam Silver addressed this issue when talking about the future of sports gambling. He said that fans often complained that the games were boring, but with greater risk from betting, fans will have greater passion for the team they choose and greater interest in the games.

Legalization can be very profitable, specifically for states with higher rates of gambling and declining economies. Online sports betting can bring customers back into casinos and generate more business in a currently weakened market. Sports gambling could raise more attention from fans, as can be seen with the growth of fantasy sports. There is now a trend of casual fans paying more attention to teams they would normally ignore. Sports gambling is a huge industry that is growing, and fans, leagues, and governments can all benefit from it being legalized.