What a difference a Supreme Court ruling makes. When Goodell sent his letter, the NFL had no way to capitalize on sports gambling, which was allowed in just four states—Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana—that had been exempted from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, passed by Congress to limit the spread of sports gambling. But when the Court ruled in May 2018 that the law was unconstitutional, states rushed to legalize sports betting, and after just a smidgen of hesitation, professional leagues have jumped in. Last week, Goodell announced that NFL teams in the 14 states that have legalized sports betting can now host stadium betting lounges, where gamblers can gather, learn the odds on games around the league, and bet through apps on their phones. The NFL already has a casino sponsor, Caesars, and a fantasy sports sponsor, FanDuel, and individual teams can sign their own deals with casinos—so the league long ago gave up its worries about gambling’s “negative societal impact.” The latest move means that now sports bookmakers themselves can appear on site, though they can’t accept bets at windows within their lounges—at least, not yet. Read Full Article »
The NFL's Bad Bet
In M
arch 2009, National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a strongly worded letter of protest to then-Delaware governor Jack Markell condemning the state’s efforts to revive its football betting lottery. “By legalizing sports betting, it will be in Delaware’s interest to create ever-larger numbers of new gamblers as the state attempts to maximize any revenue found in this promotion,” Goodell wrote. “The negative societal impact of additional gambling cannot be minimized in a community.”
What a difference a Supreme Court ruling makes. When Goodell sent his letter, the NFL had no way to capitalize on sports gambling, which was allowed in just four states—Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana—that had been exempted from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, passed by Congress to limit the spread of sports gambling. But when the Court ruled in May 2018 that the law was unconstitutional, states rushed to legalize sports betting, and after just a smidgen of hesitation, professional leagues have jumped in. Last week, Goodell announced that NFL teams in the 14 states that have legalized sports betting can now host stadium betting lounges, where gamblers can gather, learn the odds on games around the league, and bet through apps on their phones. The NFL already has a casino sponsor, Caesars, and a fantasy sports sponsor, FanDuel, and individual teams can sign their own deals with casinos—so the league long ago gave up its worries about gambling’s “negative societal impact.” The latest move means that now sports bookmakers themselves can appear on site, though they can’t accept bets at windows within their lounges—at least, not yet. Read Full Article »
What a difference a Supreme Court ruling makes. When Goodell sent his letter, the NFL had no way to capitalize on sports gambling, which was allowed in just four states—Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana—that had been exempted from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, passed by Congress to limit the spread of sports gambling. But when the Court ruled in May 2018 that the law was unconstitutional, states rushed to legalize sports betting, and after just a smidgen of hesitation, professional leagues have jumped in. Last week, Goodell announced that NFL teams in the 14 states that have legalized sports betting can now host stadium betting lounges, where gamblers can gather, learn the odds on games around the league, and bet through apps on their phones. The NFL already has a casino sponsor, Caesars, and a fantasy sports sponsor, FanDuel, and individual teams can sign their own deals with casinos—so the league long ago gave up its worries about gambling’s “negative societal impact.” The latest move means that now sports bookmakers themselves can appear on site, though they can’t accept bets at windows within their lounges—at least, not yet. Read Full Article »
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