National Basketball Association

Adam Silver: Expanding legalized sports gambling in US 'inevitable'

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:19 p.m. ET

foxsports

NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes legalized sports gambling is only going to get bigger in the US, and he expects the league to profit from it.

"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," Silver said at the Bloomberg Sports Business Summit in New York.

Las Vegas has played host to one of the NBA's yearly summer leagues and also hosted the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. Silver said he has no moral issue with sports betting and thinks it keeps people engaged in sports.

"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."