While primarily illegal, there’s no denying that betting is heavily integrated into the sports world and it benefits the professional leagues. Just as fantasy sports does, betting gives fans a rooting interest in games that they normally wouldn’t care about. This ultimately brings more eyeballs to the screen and increases the popularity of sports.
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Although much of that is obvious, it was still somewhat surprising to see NBA commissioner Adam Silver admit as much at the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit.
From Bloomberg.com:
"“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. “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.”"
Silver also said that the NBA will take advantage of such benefits as sports gambling becomes further legalized.
"“It’s inevitable that, if all these states are broke, that there will be legalized sports betting in more states than Nevada and we will ultimately participate in that,” said Silver, 52."
It’s a no-brainer move by Silver and one that will help his sport grow. We’ve seen sports commissioners shy away from talking about betting like this in the past, so Silver absolutely deserves credit for being open when discussing the topic.