NBA commissioner Adam Silver has demanded stricter gambling regulation in the United States.
Silver was the first acting professional league commissioner to come out in support of legalising sports betting in the US but admitted that more regulation is required to reduce game manipulation and combat disruptive fan behaviour in arenas which can stem from losing bets.
The 63-year-old appeared on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ to discuss the issue where he highlighted the NBA’s efforts to reduce betting options on players on two-way contracts.
Last summer, the NBA asked its sportsbook partners to stop offering prop bets on players on two-way contracts to underperform after former Toronto Raptors big man Jontay Porter was banned for life for betting offences.
Porter manipulated his performance in multiple games during the 2023-24 season and disclosed confidential information to bettors regarding his own health.
Silver said that prop bets can lead to abuse of players from fans, even in winning cases. ESPN reported that last week the NBA sent out a memo to teams, emphasising the “need for consistent and vigilant enforcement of the NBA Fan Code of Conduct to deter and address fan misconduct at NBA games and events.”
Back in 2014, Silver wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that called for a new approach to sports betting including federal regulation. At that point, state-sponsored betting was only primarily available in Nevada.
Silver said: “I think, probably, there should be more regulation, frankly. I wish there was federal legislation rather than state by state. I think you’ve got to monitor the amount of promotion, the amount of advertising around it.
“With this regulated structure of legalized betting, we can monitor it in ways that were unimaginable years ago.
“If there’s any aberrational behaviour, people betting large numbers who hadn’t historically done so, just opening an account to place bets, or even the geotargeting, we know exactly from where the bets are being placed, very specifically.
“If you’re in an arena and place a bet, we know you’re in the arena in many cases. We know where in the arena you are when you place that bet.”
Today, 39 states across America as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have launched legal betting markets.
In August, the NBA and its players’ union united in support of limiting prop bets.
The game of professional basketball continues to see scandal after scandal and former Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley is currently under investigation by federal authorities on allegations of gambling related to NBA games and prop bets.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is in a similar spot, also under federal investigation after suspicious betting patterns were detected on his player props that saw a professional bettor place 30 wagers in 46 minutes on his stats totalling almost $14,000 – all of which ended up winning.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
