WHO WILL BE THE GAMBLING COMM.FOR THE NBA

Sunday, 11. January 2015

 Jan 201513

“Bring the sports leagues in,” former NBA commissioner David Stern told CNBC on Wednesday.

Stern’s comments on legalized gambling follow his protégé Adam Silver’s November op-edpiece urging professional athletic leagues to rethink their hostility to sports betting.

Stern’s CNBC exclusive echoes the behind-closed-doors sentiment of NBA owners that if lawmakers were to legalize and license sports betting on professional basketball, then the NBA could recoup a revenue stream from that currently goes to illegal bookmakers.

One league source described this potential revenue stream to Breitbart Sports on Wednesday as a “trillion dollar industry.”

“If it’s going to happen, because it has happened anyway by Justice Department rulings and the like, you should make it legal and you should regulate it as tightly as you possibly can,” Stern told CNBC.

In 2007, under Stern’s watch, NBA referee Tim Donaghy pled guilty to federal charges after he wagered on games and allegations arose of wild point-spread shifts in contests in which he officiated.

Just a few years removed from one of the biggest scandals in its history, the NBA now seeks to draw near to what it so recently fled.

“Once ‘daily fantasy’ became an acceptable exception to the law against gambling, I think that’s gambling, so now I think the best approach would be, as Adam Silver has advocated, is for there to be federal regulation,” Stern stated in the CNBC interview.

While Stern cites fantasy sports in the CNBC segment, an NBA team source informed Breitbart Sports that in the eyes of some league owners the expansion of fantasy sports into glorified prop bets on shots attempted throughout contests will pay huge dividends to the NBA through licensed gambling apps linked to the official league website.

“Talk about mixed messages, five years ago the league put all this money into telling us how bad gambling was,” the league source told Breitbart Sports on Wednesday.

Following the Tim Donaghy scandal David Stern worked passionately to restore the integrity of the NBA by assuring fans that gambling by a referee on games he officiated was simply an isolated incident. But less than a decade later, Stern, his successor, and league owners look to collect.

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 BY ARNIE WEXLER CCGC
In 1999 I was asked to fly to New York to the National Basketball Association office in Manhattan and met with league officials, x players and union officials, concerned about players’ gambling. I was told, “We have a problem, and we’re trying to find out how bad the problem is” “We have players gambling on airplane trips loosing all kinds of $” Officials asked me to keep my calendar open for the spring of the following year and said to me that they wanted me to address every team and player in the league. They then flew my wife in, and we had a second meeting they asked us develop questions that were going to be given to the players to answer. “We need to know how big the gambling problem is in the N.B.A ,” When I hadn’t heard from the N.B.A, I called and asked, “When do we start?” The talked were cancelled, and the response I got was this: “They said that the higher-ups didn’t want the media to find out”
P S  I HAVE THE QUESTIONS WE WROTE IN A STAMPED SEALED ENVOLOPE
FROM THAT DATE
In May 1996, Horace Balmer, the NBA’s vice president for security, had two speakers flown to Norfolk, Va., whose messages were even very disturbing. Michael Franzese, a former mob boss who fixed professional and college games for organized crime, and Arnie Wexler, who for 23 years was a compulsive gambler. Franzere said, “I talked to the NBA
rookies earlier this season . . . and it’s amazing how many confided to me that they have gambling habits. I’m not going to mention their names, but if I did, you would know them” “I personally got involved in compromising games with players, and it all came through their gambling habits.’ ( THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT -May 11, 1996 )
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In October, N J GOV  Christie signed a law removing prohibitions against sports wagering in New Jersey, a move that was opposed by the four major U.S. sports leagues and the NCAA
NOW THE N B A SMELLS THE $  ITS NOW OK IF THEY CAN GET SOME OF THE $
Years ago, I was on a TV show with Howard Cossell (ABC Sports Beat). The topic was: Does the media encourage the public to gamble? David Stern, NBA commissioner said: “We don’t want the week’s grocery money to be bet on the outcome of a particular sporting event”
NOW SEE WHERE THEY ARE ===========
The NBA isn’t taking a hard-line position against sports betting anymore !!!
On Dec. 11, 2009, commissioner David Stern told SI.com (the website for Sports Illustrated) that legalized gambling on the NBA “May be a huge opportunity”

Commissioner Adam Silver, speaking at the Bloomberg Business Summit in New York, said on Thursday that the league will eventually profit from legalized gambling on sports in the future,
It’s inevitable that there will be legalized sports betting in more states than Nevada and we will ultimately participate in that,” said Silver, 52.
“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.”

NEW YORK TIMES  NOV 13/14
N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver: Allow Gambling on Pro Games
NOW   NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants New Jersey governor Chris Christie to work with the league on expanding sports betting, according to ABC News.
“Governor Christie, and I’m happy to join him, should turn his attention to Washington, D.C., to Congress, and say, ‘Here are all the reasons it should be regulated, but let’s come up with a framework that makes sense on a national basis presumably that would allow states to opt in,’” Silver said.
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You would think that the N.B.A. would be more understanding about the gambling !
Just look at some of the headlines in the past================

Multiple NBA sources say Allen Iverson is facing alcohol and gambling issues that have derailed his career and threaten his post-basketball well-being,

Charles Barkley claims gambling problem has cost him $10M

Antoine Walker has a scheduled court in Las Vegas in a case involving an $822,500 gambling debt.

Michael Jordan was spotted at the baccarat pit of an Atlantic City casino in the wee hours of the morning before game two of the Eastern Conference Finals.

NBA referee Tim Donaghy is now in recovery for his gambling addiction. “I kept waiting for a Knicks game when Stafford, Bavetta and Kersey were working together. It was like knowing the winning lottery numbers before the drawing!”)

ARNIE WEXLER CCGCWWW.ASWEXLER.COM

HELP LINE FOR GAMBLING HELP 888 LAST BET

561 249 0922 CELL 954 501 5270

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