Two of the biggest sporting leagues in the country have sent out a strong message to sportsbooks in Nevada asking them to pay out a flat fee or face the consequences. The shakedown comes from the National Basketball League (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB).
The major sports leagues in America resisted the move to legalize sports betting for a number of years as they were concerned that sports betting could compromise the integrity of their games and players. However, when the Supreme Court struck down PASPA 1992 and allowed each state the option to legalize sports betting, the sports leagues immediately had a change of heart.
Once they realized they could no longer prevent legalize sports betting, they decided it was time for them to get a cut of the revenue. The leagues pushed for an integrity fee to be added into proposed legislation when different states discussed their proposed bills. However, they decided to go down another path and directly approach sportsbooks to pay up or face the consequences.
The NBA is currently in the most exciting part of its season which is the playoffs. The NBA has reportedly sent out a message to Nevada sportsbooks asking them to pay a flat fee for using NBA data in their sportsbooks or be prepared to be without official NBA data.
The message was sent via Sportradar who asked the sportsbooks in Nevada to cough up a 0.25 percent fee on all their wagers to the MLB in order to be able continue to offer an official stream of MLB data. The NBA which offers its data via the Betradar feed has also asked for a flat fee to be paid.
In a statement, Robert Walker, Director of Sports Book Operations for USBookmaking said
I’ve heard that the leagues, which would be the NBA and MLB, want a fee for in-game wagering data, in addition to the existing fees. My sources tell me the demand is coming from the data provider, Betradar. I don’t know if the leagues actually reached out themselves. I think they’re strong arming Betradar, who is coming back and saying this is what we have to get.
Nevada Sportsbooks are yet to give into this demand as of now and the MLB and NBA are yet to release an official statement on the matter.
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