Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Adam Silver helps New Jersey get sports betting



By Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)

Much has been made of NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s recent New York Times op-ed piece on legalizing sports betting.  While Mr. Silver tries to distinguish New Jersey’s attempt (something he still, apparently, opposes) by calling for a new federal law, rather than New Jersey’s state law changes (as New Jersey tries to comply with a federal appeals court decision on the issue), the reality is that his comments only help New Jersey in their efforts to allow you to bet $20 to win on an NFL team every weekend.

HOW DID ALL OF THIS COME ABOUT?

Viewed to be the most progressive of commissioners of the four major sports, Adam Silver made comments back in September at a Bloomberg News Sports Summit that called for the legalization of sports betting in America.  Interestingly, he talked about people who make a “gentleman’s bet” or a “small wager” as getting more “engaged” in the game upon which they are betting.  Of course, these bets are illegal (hold your laughter) and are but a small part of the 400-500 billion dollar gambling industry (legal and illegal) in America.

Last week, Silver contributed to the snowball that is legalizing sports betting by writing an op-ed piece in the New York Times entitled, simply, “Legalize Sports Betting.” In it, he lays out his framework for having legal sports betting throughout the country.

The op-ed piece gets a little fuzzy when he tries to distinguish what New Jersey is trying to do from what he envisions would be the correct way to do it.  But the reality is, New Jersey is simply trying to follow the language of a Third Circuit (federal appeals court) opinion that, essentially, told New Jersey how they might be able to have legalized sports betting even with the existence of the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”).

While Silver seems to call for the repeal of PASPA, the reality is that New Jersey is trying to work within the framework of the law as it now exists.  While most knowledgeable people believe this framework is changing, New Jersey is trying to be first among states, which, as of now, don’t have legalized sports betting.

WHAT IF NEW JERSEY ALREADY HAD IN PLACE ALL OF THE “STRICT REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS AND TECHNOLOGICAL SAFEGUARDS” OF WHICH ADAM SILVER SPEAKS?

The part of his op-ed piece that has received little, if any, play in the media is Adam Silver’s laying out of specific regulations, requirements and safeguards to protect legalized sports betting.

Of course, he doesn’t seem to be aware that all, or virtually all, of his suggested safeguards are already in existence – in New Jersey.  Maybe you need to have knowledge of the casino industry or horse industry (this writer has been personally involved in the horse industry – on and off the racetrack – for over three decades) to understand this, but such safeguards already exist in New Jersey.

For example, Silver wants “mandatory monitoring and reporting of unusual betting-line movements.”  No problem.  Racetracks in New Jersey (and virtually everywhere else) have long had the ability to detect unusual betting patterns in horse races.  Certainly casinos in Las Vegas have the same thing for betting on football and other games.

Silver wants “a licensing protocol to ensure betting operators are legitimate.”  No problem.  All casino and racetrack employees (including betting tellers, security guards, grooms, trainers, drivers, vendors, etc. at the racetrack) go through a rigorous licensing procedure in New Jersey that includes fingerprinting, etc.  This is already in effect in New Jersey.

Silver wants “minimum-age verification measures.”  No problem.  Presumably, this is a sophisticated way of saying “Do you have ID?”  That question, of course, has been asked forever at casinos and, to a lesser degree, at racetracks in New Jersey.

Silver wants “geo-blocking technology to ensure betting is available only where it is legal.”  This wouldn’t seem to be a problem, especially if such betting was legal within the confines of a state, say, for example, New Jersey.  If not already in existence, it could easily be provided for people in a specific geographic area, like a state.

Silver wants “mechanisms to identify and exclude people with gambling problems.”  Again, that’s not a problem, on its face, but a bigger problem on the overall scheme of things for obvious reasons.  We all see the “if you have a gambling problem, call this number” or “gamble responsibly” caveats on lottery commercials in all states that have a lottery (the worst regressive tax ever put on poor people – but that’s beyond the scope of this article).  While casinos and racetracks do the same thing with warnings and phone numbers, the reality is, if you want to get a bet down and you are on some kind of “do not bet” list, you’ll find a way (relative, bookie, friend, etc.) to get that bet down.

Finally, Silver wants “education about responsible gambling.”  Again, no problem.  There are programs throughout the states, including New Jersey, to attempt to deal with these problems.  Education is just a click away on your computer, is available at Gamblers Anonymous, etc.

To sum up, everything Adam Silver wants is pretty much already available in New Jersey.

PRESUMABLY, HIS COMMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN FILED WITH JUDGE SHIPP IN THE NEW JERSEY CASE

Since the NBA is a plaintiff in the New Jersey federal case to stop New Jersey from having limited ($100 max bet) sports gambling in New Jersey, Adam Silver’s op-ed piece should be filed with Judge Shipp as evidence that a commissioner of a major sport is on board with legal sports gambling.  While Adam Silver attempts to make a state-federal distinction, the reality is that New Jersey is already trying to work within the existing federal framework and has all, or virtually all, of the safeguards and regulations that Adam Silver seeks to make sports betting legal.

And while the NFL, at least for now, seems to oppose Silver’s views, hopefully the lawyers for New Jersey have pointed out to Judge Shipp the hypocrisy of the NFL, as Washington’s NFL team just entered into an agreement with FanDuel (the huge fantasy gambling site) and the NFL continues to put out weekly “injury reports” (gold to gamblers legal and illegal). 

Indeed, the injury report was created over 50 years ago, with one of the reasons for its creation being to prevent gamblers from getting “inside information” on injuries that could influence the outcome of a game.  Now, at least in theory, everybody who wants to know (i.e., gamblers, including fantasy players) can find out about NFL injuries every week.

WHAT ABOUT THE HYPOCRISY OF THE NBA?

Well, it’s not so long ago that an NBA referee did 15 months in prison for betting on and attempting to fix NBA games, some of which he officiated.

He certainly wasn’t betting $50 to win on the Lakers at Monmouth Park.

The notion of “irreparable harm,” espoused by Judge Shipp in his decision barring (at least temporarily) Monmouth Park from taking sports bets, is based, at least in part, on the false premise that legal gambling, in addition to illegal gambling, will create more opportunities to have fixed games.

Of course, there is absolutely no evidence of this.  When an industry has 400-500 billion dollars per year bet, an additional (you fill in the blank) x millions/billions more won’t raise the chances of a fix any more than there already is such a chance (whatever that is).

In addition, the NBA has also entered into its own four-year agreement with FanDuel.  While it’s “legal,” it’s gambling-based, no matter what descriptions are used about it.

CONCLUSION

Like it or not, we live in a world where a number of states allow the legal sale of marijuana despite it being in conflict with existing federal law.  New York City now will not arrest you if you are caught carrying a limited amount of pot (although they still will arrest you if you smoke it in public).

It seems pretty clear to many (including the NBA commissioner) that sports gambling is coming.  There’s no reason why New Jersey shouldn’t be first on the list to monitor it, regulate it and do it.

© COPYRIGHT 2014 BY STEVE KALLAS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED  

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