http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/sports/basketball/in-sharp-pivot-for-nba-commissioner-adam-silver-backs-sports-betting.html 2014-11-14 05:23:45 In Sharp Pivot for N.B.A., Commissioner Backs Sports Betting In an article on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times, Adam Silver argued that laws governing sports gambling should be changed. === N.B.A. In writing that sports gambling had become a popular form of entertainment in the United States, largely as a “thriving underground business that operates free from regulation or oversight,” Silver argued that the laws should be changed. “Congress should adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports,” he wrote, “subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards.” “Sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight,” he wrote. Silver’s position is a stark reversal for the N.B.A. For years, the major professional sports leagues and the N.C.A.A. have been among the most vocal opponents of expanded sports gambling. In 1992, Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, known as Paspa, which drew the support of the leagues and generally prohibited states from authorizing sports betting. The major professional leagues have avoided putting teams in Nevada over the years, and the But in the op-ed, Silver signaled a sharp departure from that position, going so far as to cite the New Jersey bill as an example of the “obvious appetite among sports fans for a safe and legal way to wager on professional sporting events.” Silver also noted the daily publication of sports betting lines and point spreads in mainstream news media outlets. “Times have changed since Paspa was enacted,” Silver wrote in the op-ed. “Gambling has increasingly become a popular and accepted form of entertainment in the United States.” Silver emphasized the need for a range of regulatory measures, including the monitoring of unusual betting-line movements, licensing of betting operators, age requirements and education platforms for “responsible gaming.” Speaking in September at the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit, Silver hinted at his feelings on sports betting, saying that he thought its widespread legalization was inevitable and that the N.B.A. could benefit from it. “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, The N.B.A. announced Wednesday that it was starting a partnership with FanDuel, which runs one-day fantasy sports gambling. Players assemble teams of fantasy players, then bet real money on how they will do. Unlike traditional fantasy sports competitions, which last all season, FanDuel games finish in as little as a day, and winners are paid off immediately. Unlike betting on individual games, gambling on fantasy sports is legal in the United States. The 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which made most Internet gambling explicitly illegal, created a specific exception for fantasy sports. Gambling on sports is widespread throughout Europe and Asia. Legal betting shops are regular sites on London street corners, and even inside Premier League stadiums. Numerous prominent soccer teams are sponsored by gambling operations and even advertise them on their jerseys.