Silver expresses thoughts on gambling to other commissioners

NBA commissioner Adam Silver says he has discussed legalized sports gambling with commissioners in other American professional sports.

So far, Silver is the only leader of a major pro sports league to express his support for the legalization of gambling on pro sports in the country.

“I have talked to the commissioners in the other leagues about (legalizing sports betting),” Silver told ESPN The Magazine. “I leave it to them to make any public statements they want to make on it.

“I will say that certainly all of them are interested in having a better understanding of the issue, and I know have assigned people in their organizations to study intensively the issue as well.”

In November, Silver wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times that called upon Congress to work toward allowing states to allow betting on professional sports.

Silver also told ESPN The Magazine that the NBA opposed a New Jersey bill to legalize gambling because he believes federal legislation is necessary for universal regulation of sports betting rather than laws that vary from starte to state.