Mark Cuban Said the NBA Eventually Would Be Promotional Partners with US Casinos
Mark Cuban predicts that sports betting laws in the United States will change within the next 3 to 5 years, according to an ESPN report. The Dallas Mavericks owner made his prediction in remarks after a Mavs 95-92 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.
When asked about NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s remarks in a recent New York Times op-ed piece, Cuban said, “I agree 100%. I think we’re the world’s biggest hypocrites when we say, ‘Oh, we don’t want you betting on games,’ and then we get all excited about the sports betting line and people go to Vegas on trips won from the NBA or NFL. I mean, it’s hugely hypocritical.”
Adam Silver’s Article
In his article in the New York Times, Adam Silver called for the U.S. Congress to allow states to authorize betting on professional sporting events. Silver’s recommendations contained a number of preferred stipulations, including strict regulatory requirements and cutting edge technology safeguards.
Adam Silver gave examples of other western countries in which the national government has embraced heavily-regulated sports gambling. The United Kingdom was a primary example, in particular the English Premier League, which has several key sponsorship and advertisement deals with UK sportsbooks and betting exchanges.
“Adam Did the Right Thing”
Mark Cuban, one of the most quotable and outspoken owners in US sports, expressed his full support for the NBA’s commissioner. Cuban said, “I just think Adam did the exact right thing. I think by focusing on the federal regulations and making the changes there, that will change it. It’s just a question of when.”
Three to Five Years
Then Cuban made his prediction. He added, “I think, of the next three to five years, it will change. And it’ll be interesting to see how the NFL reacts as well, because they’ve still so far said that they’re adamant against it, because I guess they have data that says the NFL doesn’t benefit from gambling.”
Like Adam Silver, the Mavs owner says he expects the NBA and other top American sports associations to enter into successful business arrangements with casinos around the country, once the federal government approves such arrangements.
The UK: A Template for Cooperation
“We’ll charge the casinos for information sources, video sources. All you’ve got to do is look overseas. You can go and legally bet on the NBA in the U.K. and a bunch of other countries, and they’re actually big customers of NBA video. So you’ve got a template already that’s legal in the rest of the world other than America.”
To make his point, Cuban appealed to American patriotism. He said, “It’s crazy that we allow it in the rest of the world but it’s really upsetting that sports leagues don’t think Americans are good enough to gamble on our sports, but the rest of the world is. That’s un-American.”
The NBA last week signed a deal with the daily fantasy sports site, FanDuel, which promotes a form of legalized betting. The NHL signed a partnership with FanDuel’s chief rival in the one-day fantasy league industry, DraftKings.
Repealing the PASPA
While it is encouraging for pro-gambling proponents to see the National Basketball Association start to align itself with their goals, the battle to legalize sports betting is likely to be long and difficult. The sports leagues fought hard to see the Professional and Amateur Sports Protetion Act passed back in 1992. Until Adam Silver broke ranks, those leagues have maintained that sportsbooks present a danger to their leagues.
Though many would like to repeal the PASPA altogether, the court system has consistently upheld federal sports betting laws. The state of New Jersey has challenged the PASPA since the people of the state voted to legalize sports gambling in 2011. In numerous court cases, New Jersey has been thwarted in its attempts to get around federal sports gambling laws.
