NFL gambling rules leave team owners confused with players banned

19 February 2024 , 23:02

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Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for over a year for sports betting while a member of the Atlanta Falcons (Image: Getty Images)

NFL owners seem unsure about the league's gambling rules. Players can't gamble, but the league is making money from betting companies.

In 2018, a law changed so that sports betting wasn't just allowed in Nevada. Since then, big sports leagues like the NFL have been working with the betting industry. They've made deals worth up to $1 billion over five years and even let a betting shop open in FedEx Field, where the Washington Commanders play.

The Raiders team even moved to Las Vegas, a city the NFL used to avoid because of its links to gambling. Now, the NFL wants to make money from sports betting and its adverts, but it still punishes players who gamble.

This has left some people in the NFL feeling confused, with some owners unsure of how far the rules go. Arthur Blank, who owns the Atlanta Falcons, said he didn't know if he was allowed to gamble when he was in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII.

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"Once the Supreme Court made its decision, gambling is here," Blank said during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas, according to FrontOfficeSports.com. "The league's position on it has been: Protect the game at all costs, which obviously is absolutely critical."

"And all the ramifications of that in terms of club personnel, players, betting - I haven't even walked into a casino [in Las Vegas this week]. I don't want to be seen there. Theoretically, if I wanted to go to the slots I could-I'm not even sure.... But it is what it is.

"The league will be a participant, and they are a participant in all the economics that have come out of it. Hopefully, the league is being sensitive and promoting responsible betting, because we all know that some of these things can become addictions."

Super Bowl LVIII was the first Big Game staged in Las Vegas - the home of betting (Getty Images)

For decades, the NFL believed that gambling could damage the integrity of results so heavy punishment has taken precedence over prevention and treatment. The NFL ultimately prohibits league and team personnel from betting on any sport, while players are allowed to bet on other sports as long as it is done so away from team facilities and in their own time.

While in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl, members of the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers - along with hundreds of league employees - were not allowed to play casino games or enter a betting shop unless they were just passing through. This left Blank feeling puzzled.

Andrew Gamble