NBA would charge fee on sports betting

NBA seeks benefits from a legal sports betting industry throughout the United States.

US.- The National Basketball Association (NBA) is getting ready for the potential approval of sports betting in over 18 states of the USA by hiring a lobbyist, presenting a project and demanding financial benefits from gaming operations related to basketball matches. NBA commissioner Adam Silver gave a speech last Saturday explaining why the Association should receive a royalty from legal sports betting operations.

“I would only say from the NBA’s standpoint we will spend this year roughly $7.5 billion creating this content, creating these games,” Silver said at an NBA All-Star Weekend press conference. “Those are total expenses for the season. So this notion that as the intellectual property creators that we should receive a 1 per cent fee seems very fair to me.”

Last week, both the NBA and Major League Baseball have hired the Senate Finance Committee’s former chairman Stephen Alves to lobby on their behalf. Over 18 states of the US have shown interest in legalising the sports betting industry, and the US Supreme Court will soon determine whether the PASPA amendment that prohibits operations could be changed.

Sports betting legalisation is an issue being discussed at throughout the United States. With over 18 states willing to introduce new legislation regulating the market, New Jersey has taken the case to the US Supreme Court, which is expected to set a resolution next month. Under current legislation, sports betting is banned federal-wide, except in four states – Nevada, Oregon, Delaware and Montana – as they were already offering some variation of sports lotteries back in 1992 when PASPA (the Act against sports betting) was approved.