commissioner Adam Silver has announced he sees the legalisation of sports gambling happening in the not-so-distant future.

Silver is one of the strongest supporters of the legalisation of sports gambling of the four major professional sports leagues. He comments on the future of the industry stating: “My sense is the law will change in the next few years in the United States. People want to bet throughout the game ... It results in enormous additional engagement with the fans.

"And I think it’s not as much at the end of the day: Are leagues being for or against sports betting? It’s more a function of being realists.

"It’s a multi-hundred-billion-dollar illegal industry in the United States. And I think ultimately as the owners of the intellectual property, we’re going to embrace it and also make sure our integrity is protected at the same time.”

Silver spoke alongside the other “Big Four” commissioners, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, MLB boss Rob Manfred, and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on a panel discussing the issue.

Whilst the other three commissioners stayed relatively mute on the subject, Silver claimed the legislatory change would be sooner than expected.

For some time Silver has argued that there is an “obvious appetite among sports fans” for a safe and regulated way to wager on various sporting events.