NFL holds its ground in sports betting fight

With fantasy sports betting legalization still an ongoing battle, the NFL has claimed that it is on the verge of expanding and this may entail initiation of a team based in Las Vegas. This comes after New Jersey appealed a case where NF, NBA, MLB, NCAA and NHL had moved to the court in 2012 to block a move by the state in legalizing sports betting. They opposed this since they claimed that match fixing especially on single betting would be frequent and hence tarnishing the fame of the game. According to Brian McCarthy the league spokesman, they were not backing of from blocking the move ever.

However, their move was faced by various problems as some representatives of various teams had other plans. Robert Kraft the owner of New England team joined hands with Steve Wynn Las Vegas casino developer in building a casino believed to be worth $1 billion next to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough back in 2011.

NFL had earlier banned the advert banners in the stadium as a way to deter any casino initiation move. However, it claimed that it would allow advertising money from casinos. The league claimed that this would be accompanied by several rules such that no logos or club marks are present on the advert and that players would receive divides from the income generated from these adverts.

There has been however partnership between fantasy firms DraftKings and FanDuel with 21 league teams, Steelers included. NFL commissioner Roger Goodwell described this as family reunion and said that fantasy sees people come together for fun as they enjoy football. McCarthy echoed these words by saying that generally fantasy football is a non gambling event that entails skills of the game.

Nevertheless, despite all this, NFL was on the front line in cancelling fantasy football conference that was scheduled for 10-12 July at the non-gambling Las Vegas site the Sands Expo. The expected in attendance included Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.

The league was later involved in cautioning three Miami Dolphins players from indulging in poker events in Coconut Creek casino, Fla. This attracted criticism from events’ host Andy Slter who claimed that NFL was based on gambling.

This article is published in: Sports Betting
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