NBA Commish Silver Talks Twitter, But Sidesteps Questions on Las Vegas Franchise and Sports Betting

By ALAN SNEL

LVSportsBiz.com

 

Adam Silver is easy to pick out.

 

Just look for the skinny, tall, head-shaven white dude with glasses and he will cheerfully shake your hand and politely tell you that it’s not the right time for an interview on the NBA coming to Las Vegas.

 

I went up to Silver at the Aria at the collosal CES show Wednesday around 12:30 p.m. or so because he’s a popular guy in Las Vegas. Well, popular with Jim Murren and the rest of the gang at MGM Resorts International, which would want nothing else than to have an NBA franchise serving as a tenant for T-Mobile Arena and supplying the arena with revenues from some 45 home dates.

 

Silver also was the Pied Piper for legalized sports betting across the land, arguing that billions of dollars are being gambled on sports every year off the books so you might as well legalize and regulate it while making a few bucks for the  NBA while you’re at it.

 

I told Silver his opinion commentary for the New York Times three years ago was a game-changer in the sports betting industry because he was the first commissioner of a major sports league to argue for legalizing sports gambling. It was another example of the NBA is at the forefront of most major sports trends, from its history of having players stand up for racial justice (Bill Russell) to having the biggest sports name in the Twitter galaxy (LeBron James).

 

Silver smiled and corrected me. “The piece was actually four years ago,” the NBA commissioner advised me. And so right he was — here’s the NYT op-ed piece, Nov. 13, 2014.

 

I followed up with a request to get his thoughts on the Las Vegas market. But he mentioned he needed to talk with someone else and strolled away in the CES sports lounge that was stocked with Diet Cokes, chips and oats ‘n honey granola bars.

 

 

 

Silver knows Las Vegas. The NBA commissioner visits Sin City in the heat of July each year when the NBA Summer League — what the event’s marketers call the “Woodstock” or Burning Man” of pro hoops — brings all 30 NBA teams to Thomas & Mack center to let their young players get court time in a spring training-style setting.

 

And during the annual Summer League visit, Jim Murren, the MGM Resorts International CEO, likes to cozy up to Silver and utter sweet things about how great it would be to have the NBA bring the big leagues of roundball to Las Vegas.

 

But at 1:30 p.m. at the Aria, Silver was talking neither Las Vegas nor sports gambling.

 

The NBA commish was chatting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about #NBATwitter at CES and it was 30 minutes of pleasant conversation between the Twitter dude and the commish. ESPN NBA reporter Rachel Nichols moderated.

 

There was talk that the NBA was the most Tweeted sports league and how the Association’s very visible player personalities are ideal to follow in real time on Twitter.

 

“It’s about the here and now,” Silver told a packed room of CES visitors, who lined the walls of the Primrose ballroom 2-3. “Everyone is living in the Twitter universe.”

 

Silver used his time to say the NBA gives fans bite-sized snacks of game action to grow the sport and he tries to monitor Twitter to keep abreast of player and fan comments.

 

“People don’t want to be isolated,” Silver said. “Twitter seems to be the perfect platform for that.”

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I was hoping to ask Silver about integrity issues on gambling, such as injuries and player availability. I wanted to find out how exactly the NBA benefits from having MGM Resorts International be the official betting partner of the NBA.  We hope to find out more about these issues for a future story.

 

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Kerry Bubolz is the Vegas Golden Knights’ super-brand ambassador, spreading the good cheer of the Golden Knights to one and all — from local business groups to sports groups like the one assembled at the collosal CES show at the Aria Wednesday. Bubolz, the Golden Knights team president, was part of a five-member panel on fans.

 

And he shared some fun nuggets with his co-panelists and CES visitors who stuck around after Silver and Dorsey let the stage. Bubolz quipped that the Golden Knights show theatrics around the actual hockey game are “borderline ridiculous” because the city is Las Vegas, after all. Here are some videos of Bubolz in action.

 

 

In this video, Bubolz talks about how the team got the nickname, the Golden Misfits.

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One of the CES sports chats at the Aria included Turner President David Levy, who said sports betting would drive interest in smaller niche leagues like the National Lacrosse League.

 

“Betting drives ratings,” Levy told the packed audience before the Silver-Dorsey-Twitter chat.

 

Levy referred to his three “A’s” for growth — audience across platforms; accessibility; and attribution (advertisers finding value in their ad spots).

 

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Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com publisher/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com if you would like to buy his recently released book, Long Road Back to Las Vegas.