NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Calls for Stronger Sports Betting Oversight
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wants greater regulation to protect game integrity and reduce fan misconduct linked to gambling. Speaking Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show, Silver warned that the rapid expansion of legalized wagering has created new challenges that require tighter oversight.
Silver referenced the league's recent push to restrict betting markets involving players on two-way contracts. Silver already voiced his concerns in the past, when, during the summer of 2024, the NBA asked its sportsbook partners to remove prop bets on those players' underperformance after Jontay Porter, then with the Toronto Raptors, was found to have intentionally manipulated his play to influence wagers. Silver permanently banned Porter from the league.
The commissioner, the first professional sports league executive to publicly support legal sports betting at the best sports betting sites in the US, added that even legitimate prop betting can encourage negative fan behavior toward athletes, particularly when individual wagers fail. Silver said fans may become aggressive even in victory if specific player outcomes fail to meet their bets, calling for better protection of players and stricter enforcement of arena conduct policies.
The NBA recently sent a memo to teams stressing consistent enforcement of its Fan Code of Conduct. Silver's comments build on his 2014 New York Times op-ed, in which he first called for a federally regulated betting framework. Since then, 39 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have launched legal wagering markets, marking a dramatic shift in the US sports landscape. We keep track of the legality in all states with our legal sports betting states tracker.
