It’s still only July, and yet we’ve already begun talking about South by Southwest.
The first track to issue news of next year’s megalo-meeting is SXsports, which enters into year three after a successful sophomore effort. Reports out of the company’s downtown office have it that the session’s Opening Featured Speaker will be none other than NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. The 53-year-old bawse has presided over all things hoop since David Stern stepped down on Feb. 1, 2014, and has already launched a series of initiatives that should help move professional basketball forward. Last April, he was responsible for banning Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the NBA for life as a result of racially charged (and tape recorded) comments he thought he made in private. He made waves last November when he revealed himself as an advocate of sports betting.
“There is an obvious appetite among sports fans for a safe and legal way to wager on professional sporting events,” he said in an op-ed published in the New York Times. “In light of … domestic and global trends, the laws on sports betting should be changed. Congress should adopt a federal framework that allow states to authorize betting on professional sports, subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards.”
Here’s betting a crumpled $20 that Silver’s asked to broach the topic.
SXsports runs Friday, March 11, through Sunday, March 13, with SXSW as a whole running through Sunday, March 20.
This article appears in July 24 • 2015.