NBA commissioner David Stern let slip this week in an interview with Sports Illustrated, that the league is now open to the prospect of regulated sports betting on it’s games.

It created a firestorm of interest around the web and media agencies. And to be honest I’ve been a little astounded by some of the negativity and ignorance shown by some respected journalists reporting the change in direction. How do they get through life ignorant to what is happening in the rest of the world and only forming opinions based on their own little neighborhood? They couldn’t be so against Stern’s thoughts if they had done the slightest bit of research on the topic at all and seen what the rest of the world has been doing for years.

Many have derided Stern for what is simply an admission that gambling happens now anyway, so why not benefit from it? It’s logical, and forward thinking from the most respected commissioner in pro sports.

He said quite candidly that “”The betting issues are actually going to become more intense as states in the U.S. and governments in the world decide that the answers to all of their monetary shortfalls are the tax that is gambling.”

He may be the first US sports leader to think like this, but he’s still a long way behind the rest of the world. Nearly everywhere has regulated & taxed sports betting already. The US is the only developed western nation I know of where it’s citizens don’t have the freedom to walk down the street to legally place a bet on their favorite sports team – except in Nevada of course.

The Author of the piece, Ian Thomsen, had this to say; “My take, as written several times over the years, is that legalized betting on professional sports in the U.S. is inevitable for two reasons: (1) If sports wagering becomes a legal and taxable form of revenue, then governments will actively police sports betting in order to protect that revenue base, as well as to safe-guard the leagues that create the windfall of new taxes; and (2) Betting on games will create more fan interest and, ultimately, bring in more money to the NBA and other leagues.”

It’s just a pity that it has taken the lure of dollars to make more people in the USA see the light when it comes to regulated gambling on sports. Why couldn’t they have just done this already because it makes sense? The land of the free is more like land of the ‘nothing comes for free’ these days.

In light of the NBA’s change in thinking, BetUS has posted odds on which sports league will regulate gambling on their games first. Of course the NBA is an almost unbackable 2/3 favorite. They’re also favorite to have an NBA team in Las Vegas first at 1/1.

I know I’d love to see the Las Vegas Kings in town! But who needs ANOTHER excuse to visit Vegas?!