David Stern pressing to see sports betting legalized in U.S.

What a difference a decade can make.

Former NBA commissioner David Stern, who helmed the league through the dark chapter of the Tim Donaghy gambling scandal, now says the federal law that bans sports betting is outdated.

"Let's not talk about the 'evils' of gambling when it comes to sports," Stern told a conference Thursday at American Gaming Association's Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. "The industry has come to accept that a properly run gaming association will be protective of sports."

Stern's view echoes that of his successor Adam Silver, who wrote in a 2014 op-ed that it was time to legalize and properly regulate sports betting. Since then, reports have surfaced that the NBA has had talks with global betting firms, amid a growing belief that other leagues are gradually softening their stance against the industry.

While legal in the state of Nevada and to a lesser extent, Delaware, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 is the federal law that prohibits sports gambling on a national level. Regardless of that statute, estimates are that approximately $90 billion will be illegally wagered this year on football alone.

"You wind up with a proposition that says there is this legal gaming, but there's also an enormous amount that is wagered," Stern told ESPN's David Purdum. "That amount is not regulated, not taxed, and the profits go to unsavory causes, and that's a good thing to take a look at."

Former NBA referee Donaghy pleaded guilty in 2007 to two felony charges that he supplied game information to bookmakers and bet on the point spread of contests he officiated. At the time, Stern said the scandal was "the most serious situation and worst situation that I have ever experienced."