Over the last year, few measures related to the legalization of sports betting have received as much attention or garnered more controversy than a so-called integrity fee proposed by several pro sports league namely the NBA.

Introduced by NBA senior vice president Dan Spillane at a New York senate hearing in January, the league floated a proposal that would require gaming operators to pay the association 1 percent of their total handle on legal wagers involving NBA teams in a given jurisdiction. The fee, which NBA commissioner Adam Silver later dubbed a royalty, would essentially compensate the league for the intellectual property of their official data, as well as added enforcement and compliance expenses brought about by an expansion in sports gambling.