The National Basketball Association wants to collect a percentage of legal sports betting as an "integrity fee" should it become legalized, a move the gaming industry opposes, Axios reported Friday.
The NBA's reasoning is that it believes the League will incur additional expenses to monitor wagering. It wants to include as much as a one percent "integrity fee" (though officials say they would accept .25 percent) to pay the additional staff and third-party vendors to monitor bets to ensure games weren't being fixed.
"We go through, with the help of technology, and compile all that data and look for any abnormalities," a League official told Axios. "It takes human resources and advanced technology."
There has been little or no movement on the integrity fees in the course of developing federal or state regulations on sports betting. Gaming industry officials claim the safeguards are already in place to monitor bets and are looking at the idea as a "cash grab," according to Axios.
"Can we get 25 percent of a percent of [the NBA's] revenue?" counters Geoff Freeman, CEO of the American Gaming Association, adding there was "no upside to getting Congress involved" in that type of regulation.
The League maintains it could cost "millions" to monitor sports betting, but has yet to price out exactly what those costs would entail.
New Jersey State Senate President Steve Sweeney also opposes integrity fees for Leagues, reports Politico, saying they're just trying to get a "fast buck" after years of opposition to legalized betting regulations, calling their demand the equivalent to "extortion."
"The Leagues fought with all of their resources to stop states from allowing their citizens to legally wager on sports," Sweeney wrote in a letter to governors and lawmakers in each state.
"Now that their efforts have been ultimately unsuccessful they wish themselves to make 'the fast buck' and to 'get something for nothing.' Essentially, the Leagues are asking to be paid to allow games to be played fairly," he explained.
In addition, by giving the Leagues a "piece of the action," Sweeney maintained that type of involvement could make "suspicions grow whenever turning-point calls in close games go in favor of the more popular team — whose presence in the 'big game' would drive ratings and betting."
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