Last week, National Football League owners got together at their annual meeting to address a number of issues, including their stance on sports betting. During a press conference, owners spoke about the possibility of the US Supreme Court legalizing sports betting on a federal level, and how it could impact the sport.
NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell also spoke to the press saying that he did not have any insight into what how the Supreme Court will rule in the New Jersey sports betting case, nor was the NFL privy to it. However, he said that he the NFL made sure that people understood how the prospects and potential for gambling could change for the sport, in part because of the Supreme Court decision and how it it has evolved.
“The number one thing that was endorsed repeatedly by our membership was the integrity of our game though,” said Goodell. “We have to make sure that whatever environment we’re working in, and some of that may be related to what the Supreme Court decides, some of it might be future legislation, but we have to make sure we are operating in an environment where we can protect that integrity of the game. We recognize that we’re dealing in an environment here where we don’t know what the Supreme Court is going to do and we don’t know how other issues are going to evolve. But we wanted to make sure our clubs fully understood what we’re doing to make sure we’re prepared for that.”
Up until now, the NFL has stood apart from other sports leagues such as the MLB and the NBA who spearheaded lobbying efforts on sports betting, and has not been involved in efforts to shape legislation nationwide. As such, phrases used by Goodell and the NFL such as “future legislation”, is new territory for the league.
Another change we see is that Goodell did not use the NFL’s regular mantra of opposing sports betting in any form. Instead, he related to questions posed by the media, indicating that he knew that it was a possibility that the Supreme Court could vote on reverting PASPA.
