I have known Mark Cuban for almost 30 years and he has never been someone prone to understatement. The billionaire businessman who owns the Dallas Mavericks was quick to react to today’s 6-3 Supreme Court ruling paving the way for legal sports gambling in the United States.
Via email he stated to many in the media that “I think everybody who owns top-four professional sports team just basically saw the value of their team double at least,” Cuban. He also appeared on CNBC saying that all of his fellow team owners in the NBA, the NHL, MLB and the NFL would benefit greatly from the court ruling.
By the way his team is worth according to Forbes about $1.9 billion. So, that means if Cuban is right his team could be worth just shy of $4 billion.
It also did not take long for the pro sports leagues to react to the news. Both the National Basketball and Major League Baseball had been conversations with the state of New Jersey about a “cut of profits from gambling.”
Both leagues were quick to respond to the news of the ruling.
We remain in favor of a federal framework that would provide a uniform approach to sports gambling in states that choose to permit it, but we will remain active in ongoing discussions with state legislatures. Regardless of the particulars of any future sports betting law, the integrity of our game remains our highest priority,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
Across town from the NBA offices the folks at Major League Baseball said in a statement: “As each state considers whether to allow sports betting, we will continue to seek the proper protections for our sport, in partnership with other professional sports. Our most important priority is protecting the integrity of our game,” MLB said in their statement.
As you can imagine the internet based fantasy sports sites want a way to get deeply into the gaming business. DraftKings, one of the top sites was quick to make sure lawmakers knew where they stood on the issue.
“Our mission has always been to bring fans closer to the sports they love and now, thanks to the wisdom of the Supreme Court, DraftKings will be able to harness our proven technology to provide our customers with innovative online sports betting products,” said CEO Jason Robins.
Monday’s opinion repealed the 25-year-old federal law that outlawed sports betting in most places outside of Nevada. Right now Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia, Mississippi, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island could also have sports books set to go in the next 90 days.