Several pro league commissioners, notably the NBA’s Adam Silver, were outspoken advocates for the broad legalization of sports betting before it became a reality in 2018. Now nearing the sixth anniversary of that momentous date on May 14, many of those same commissioners are acknowledging they are still struggling with the limits of their powers to manage the meteoric growth of the industry.
Less than a month after former Raptors center Jontay Porter received a lifetime suspension for flagrant violations of league gambling rules, Silver said there are still limits to how effectively or broadly the league can govern the situation.
“We only have so much control,” Silver said at the Associated Press Sports Editors Commissioners Conference this week in New York.
