Former NBA commissioner David Stern said Thursday that his position has evolved to a point where he now hopes to see legal sports betting expand in the United States.
Stern was speaking to a crowd at the American Gaming Association’s Global Gaming Expo on Thursday in Las Vegas. He said that the notion that gambling will lead to bad things is outdated.
“Let’s not talk about the ‘evils’ of gambling when it comes to sports. The industry has come to accept that a properly run gaming association will be protective of sports,” Stern said.
The AGA estimates $90 billion will be bet on football this season, almost all of it illegally. In comparison, only $1,69 billion was bet on football in 2015 at Nevada’s regulated sportsbooks.
“You wind up with a proposition that says there is this legal gaming, but there’s also an enormous amount that is wagered. That amount is not regulated, not taxed, and the profits go to unsavory causes, and that’s a good thing to take a look at.”
